Vatican declares death penalty ”inadmissible”

The Roman Catholic Church says it has changed its teaching to declare the death penalty "inadmissible" to reflect that all life is sacred and there is no justification for state-sponsored executions. The Vatican said on Thursday Pope Francis approved the revision to say that capital punishment constitutes an "attack" on the dignity of human beings.  […]

The Roman Catholic Church says it has changed its teaching to declare the death penalty "inadmissible" to reflect that all life is sacred and there is no justification for state-sponsored executions.

The Vatican said on Thursday Pope Francis approved the revision to say that capital punishment constitutes an "attack" on the dignity of human beings. 

The change will be reflected in the most important guide to church teaching, the catechism. 

Previously, the catechism said the church did not exclude recourse to capital punishment "if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor". 

In an accompanying letter explaining the change, Cardinal Ladaria, head of the Vatican’s doctrine, said the development of Catholic doctrine on capital punishment did not contradict prior teaching but rather was an evolution of it.