We need to re-evaluate the strategy in a different way, using new approaches that refrain from further judgment and condemnation.

During the Mass for this year's "Walk for Life" on Saturday, Advincula - who is the head of Manila's Catholic Church - spoke of the need for the Church to walk with the times.

The Church needs to explore "new pathways" to respond better to today's dominant values he said.

"We need to engage in more listening and dialogue. This is part of walking for life.

"Yes, we are clear about teachings on the different issues connected with life and family but we also need to rethink our approaches, methodologies and strategies" he said.

Diverse family life and ways of living

Finding better ways to deal with today's problems in today's world is of particular concern Advincula told the congregation.

We need to find better ways of dealing with, among other issues, the dilemmas and complexities of modern families, irregular situations in the home and what he termed "the diversity in understanding identity and personhood".

He said that accompanying families on this journey, especially the young people, is necessary.

"They don't need more judgments and condemnations.

"To lead people to the truth, we must do so in love, truth and charity, walking together for life, this is where the holy spirit is leading us today."

Life is sacred

One of the Mass concelebrants was Bishop Severo Caermare who chairs the CBCP Episcopal Commission on the Laity.

This year's Walk for Life has raised important family and life issues, he told the crowd. Pro-life includes opposing attempts to revive the death penalty, divorce and same-sex unions.

"Our participation, our presence today is a demonstration of how we value the sacredness of life" he said.

Advincula encouraged all the faithful to work together to defend the sacredness of life "in a rapidly changing world that is oftentimes more welcoming to a civilisation of death and so hostile to a civilisation of life and love.

"I encourage you to continue to be passionate in your ministry. Do not be disheartened if sometimes you feel if what you have been doing is not even noticed or ends up in an apparent failure. Take courage. You are not alone.

"Our society today needs teachers that can lead others to the right path and to the right choices. We must not abandon this mission of being teachers and catechists of the Gospel of life."

A united appeal

The Council of the Laity of the Philippines which organised the Walk for Life says the pro-life event brought together more than 3,000 people from various religious and lay organisations.

The Council says they were all united in one aim - to demonstrate solidarity in upholding the dignity of human life.

Source

• CBCP News

In a press statement on April 24, the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) condemned the Singapore government's use of the death penalty for drug-related offenses which do not meet the threshold of the "most serious crimes."

"FIDH reiterates its condemnation of the Singaporean government's ongoing imposition of the death penalty, in particular for offenses that do not meet the threshold of the most serious crimes," the group said.

Read More

Francis made his views on the death penalty clear during his first speech in Bahrain last Thursday.

He chose the country's royal palace to address two of the most contentious political issues in the country.

One was Bahrain's treatment of prisoners; the other, its practice of capital punishment.

"I think in the first place of the right to life, of the need to guarantee that right always, including for those being punished, whose lives should not be taken," Francis said.

His words were a direct challenge to his host, Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.

The King invited the pope to Bahrain. He also ended the kingdom's de facto moratorium on capital punishment in 2017. Since then, six people have been executed.

At present there are 26 prisoners facing execution in Bahrain.

The Government has repeatedly denied any human rights violations or mistreatment of prisoners. "I was so happy to hear these words," said Zainab Ibrahim, whose husband Ramadhan has been on death row since 2014.

Ramadhan also heard the pope's speech live while watching BBC Arabic from prison.

"... This is really a moment that gave us hope, gave us joy for our family," Ibrahim said. "There are no words to describe the pain we go through as a family,"Ibrahim says.

Ahead of the pope's arrival for his 3-6 November visit to Bahrain, representatives from the London-based Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy met with officials from the Vatican embassy in Great Britain.

Their aim was to raise awareness of the situation of political prisoners and death row inmates in the kingdom. The institute also passed along letters from several inmates, directly appealing to the pope to take up their cases with the king, who has the authority to commute sentences or grant pardons.

"Your Holiness, ... you believe in spreading love and peace and in the message of Jesus, who always sought to lift the injustice and suffering of the oppressed and the needy who did not find anyone to help them," Ramadhan's letter said.

Sayed Ahmed AlWadaei, director of advocacy for the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, says he wasn't expecting Francis to directly address the issue, especially on his first day in the country.

Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy, executive director of US-based Catholic Mobilising Network against the death penalty, says "even as a small number of nations like Bahrain continue to execute and condemn their citizens to death, most of the world is moving in the other direction.

"More than 140 countries have rejected the death penalty either in law or in practice,"she says.

"Pope Francis' consistent witness...echoed Popes John Paul II's and Benedict XVI's opposition to the death penalty, but he "has gone on to clarify the Church's teachings against capital punishment, including with a historic revision to the Catechism in 2018" that it is now considered "legally unnecessary and morally inadmissible."

Source

• NCR

The Senate voted 22-16 to pass the death penalty abolition bill and the House of Delegates voted 57-43 to approve the identical bill, according to the advocacy group Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. There is expected to be a public signing ceremony with Gov. Ralph Northam in April.

An earlier version of the bill passed both chambers in early February.

Legislation that would expand abortion coverage in Virginia's health exchange also is likely to be signed by Northam, who supports legal abortion.

The Virginia House of Delegates passed the bill allowing tax-funded abortion for any reason in Virginia's health exchange Jan. 26. The Senate OK'd the measure Jan. 22, the anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Read More

The document focuses on fraternity and social friendship as the ways to build a better, more just and peaceful world - with the contribution of all: people and institutions.

The official summary follows, with a link to download the full document at the end.

What are the great ideals but also the tangible ways to advance for those who wish to build a more just and fraternal world in their ordinary relationships, in social life, politics and institutions?

This is mainly the question that Fratelli tutti is intended to answer: the Pope describes it as a "Social Encyclical" which borrows the title of the "Admonitions" of Saint Francis of Assisi, who used these words to "address his brothers and sisters and proposed to them a way of life marked by the flavour of the Gospel" (1).

The Poverello "did not wage a war of words aimed at imposing doctrines; he simply spread the love of God", the Pope writes, and "he became a father to all and inspired the vision of a fraternal society" (2-4).

The Encyclical aims to promote a universal aspiration toward fraternity and social friendship. Beginning with our common membership in the human family, from the acknowledgement that we are brothers and sisters because we are the children of one Creator, all in the same boat, and hence we need to be aware that in a globalized and interconnected world, only together can we be saved.

Human Fraternity

Fraternity is to be encouraged not only in words, but in deeds.

Deeds made tangible in a "better kind of politics", which is not subordinated to financial interests, but to serving the common good, able to place the dignity of every human being at the centre and assure work to everyone, so that each one can develop his or her own abilities.

A politics which, removed from populism, is able to find solutions to what attacks fundamental human rights and which aims to definitively eliminate hunger and trafficking.

At the same time, Pope Francis underscores that a more just world is achieved by promoting peace, which is not merely the absence of war; it demands "craftsmanship", a job that involves everyone.

Linked to truth, peace and reconciliation must be "proactive"; they must work toward justice through dialogue, in the name of mutual development.

This begets the Pontiff's condemnation of war, the "negation of all rights" and is no longer conceivable even in a hypothetically "justified" form, because nuclear, chemical and biological weapons already have enormous repercussions on innocent civilians.

There is also a strong rejection of the death penalty, defined as "inadmissible", and a central reflection on forgiveness, connected to the concepts of remembrance and justice: to forgive does not mean to forget, the Pontiff writes, nor to give up defending one's rights to safeguard one's dignity, which is a gift from God.

In the background of the Encyclical is the Covid-19 pandemic which, Francis reveals, "unexpectedly erupted" as he "was writing this letter". But the global health emergency has helped demonstrate that "no one can face life in isolation" and that the time has truly come to "dream, then, as a single human family" in which we are "brothers and sisters all" (7-8).

Global problems, global actions

Opening with a brief introduction and divided into eight chapters, the Encyclical gathers - as the Pope himself explains - many of his statements on fraternity and social friendship, arranged, however, "in a broader context of reflection" and complemented by "a number of letters, documents" sent to Francis by "many individuals and groups throughout the world" (5).

In the first chapter, "Dark clouds over a closed world", the document reflects on the many distortions of the contemporary era: the manipulation and deformation of concepts such as democracy, freedom, justice; the loss of the meaning of the social community and history; selfishness and indifference toward the common good; the prevalence of a market logic based on profit and the culture of waste; unemployment, racism, poverty; the disparity of rights and its aberrations such as slavery, trafficking, women subjugated and then forced to abort, organ trafficking (10-24).

It deals with global problems that call for global actions, emphasizes the Pope, also sounding the alarm against a "culture of walls" that favours the proliferation of organized crime, fuelled by fear and loneliness (27-28).

Moreover, today we observe a deterioration of ethics (29), contributed to, in a certain way, by the mass media which shatter respect for others and eliminate all discretion, creating isolated and self-referential virtual circles, in which freedom is an illusion and dialogue is not constructive (42-50).

Love builds bridges: the Good Samaritan

To many shadows, however, the Encyclical responds with a luminous example, a herald of hope: the Good Samaritan.

The second chapter, "A stranger on the road", is dedicated to this figure.

In it, the Pope emphasizes that, in an unhealthy society that turns its back on suffering and that is "illiterate" in caring for the frail and vulnerable (64-65), we are all called - just like the Good Samaritan - to become neighbours to others (81), overcoming prejudices, personal interests, historic and cultural barriers.

We all, in fact, are co-responsible in creating a society that is able to include, integrate and lift up those who have fallen or are suffering (77).

Love builds bridges and "we were made for love" (88), the Pope adds, particularly exhorting Christians to recognize Christ in the face of every excluded person (85).

The principle of the capacity to love according to "a universal dimension" (83) is also resumed in the third chapter, "Envisaging and engendering an open world".

In this chapter Francis exhorts us to go "'outside' the self" in order to find "a fuller existence in another" (88), opening ourselves up to the other according to the dynamism of charity which makes us tend toward "universal fulfilment" (95).

In the background - the Encyclical recalls - the spiritual stature of a person's life is measured by love, which always "takes first place" and leads us to seek better for the life of the other, far from all selfishness (92-93).

Rights have no borders

A fraternal society, therefore, will be one that promotes educating in dialogue in order to defeat the "virus" of "radical individualism" (105) and to allow everyone to give the best of themselves.

Beginning with protection of the family and respect for its "primary and vital mission of education" (114).

There are two 'tools' in particular to achieve this type of society: benevolence, or truly wanting good for the other (112), and solidarity which cares for fragility and is expressed in service to people and not to ideologies, fighting against poverty and inequality (115).

The right to live with dignity cannot be denied to anyone, the Pope again affirms, and since rights have no borders, no one can remain excluded, regardless of where they are born (121).

In this perspective the Pontiff also calls us to consider "an ethics of international relations" (126), because every country also belongs to foreigners and the goods of the territory cannot be denied to those who are in need and come from another place.

Thus, the natural right to private property will be secondary to the principal of the universal destination of created goods (120).

The Encyclical also places specific emphasis on the issue of foreign debt: subject to the principle that it must be paid, it is hoped nonetheless that this does not compromise the growth and subsistence of the poorest countries (126).

Migrants: global governance for long-term planning

Meanwhile, part of the second and the entire fourth chapter are dedicated to the theme of migration, the latter, entitled "A heart open to the whole world".

With their lives "at stake" (37), fleeing from war, persecution, natural catastrophes, unscrupulous trafficking, ripped from their communities of origin, migrants are to be welcomed, protected, supported and integrated.

Unnecessary migration needs to be avoided, the Pontiff affirms, by creating concrete opportunities to live with dignity in the countries of origin. But at the same time, we need to respect the right to seek a better life elsewhere.

In receiving countries, the right balance will be between the protection of citizens' rights and the guarantee of welcome and assistance for migrants (38-40).

Specifically, the Pope points to several "indispensable steps, especially in response to those who are fleeing grave humanitarian crises": to increase and simplify the granting of visas; to open humanitarian corridors; to assure lodging, security and essential services; to offer opportunities for employment and training; to favour family reunification; to protect minors; to guarantee religious freedom and promote social inclusion.

The Pope also calls for establishing in society the concept of "full citizenship", and to reject the discriminatory use of the term "minorities" (129-131).

What is needed above all - the document reads - is global governance, an international collaboration for migration which implements long-term planning, going beyond single emergencies (132), on behalf of the supportive development of all peoples based on the principle of gratuitousness.

In this way, countries will be able to think as "human family" (139-141).

Others who are different from us are a gift and an enrichment for all, Francis writes, because differences represent an opportunity for growth (133-135).

A healthy culture is a welcoming culture that is able to open up to others, without renouncing itself, offering them something authentic. As in a polyhedron - an image dear to the Pontiff - the whole is more than its single parts, but the value of each one of them is respected (145-146).

Politics: valuable form of charity

The theme of the fifth chapter is "A better kind of politics", which represents one of the most valuable forms of charity because it is placed at the service of the common good (180) and recognizes the importance of people, understood as an open category, available for discussion and dialogue (160).

In a certain sense, this is the populism indicated by Francis, which counters that "populism" which ignores the legitimacy of the notion of "people", by attracting consensuses in order to exploit them for its own service and fomenting selfishness in order to increase its own popularity (159).

But a better politics is also one that protects work, an "essential dimension of social life", and seeks to ensure everyone the opportunity to develop their own abilities (162).

The best help to a poor person, the Pontiff explains, is not just money, which is a provisional remedy, but rather allowing him or her to have a dignified life through work.

The true anti-poverty strategy does not simply aim to contain or render indigents inoffensive, but to promote them in the perspective of solidarity and subsidiarity (187).

The task of politics, moreover, is to find a solution to all that attacks fundamental human rights, such as social exclusion; the marketing of organs, tissues, weapons and drugs; sexual exploitation; slave labour; terrorism and organized crime.

The Pope makes an emphatic appeal to definitively eliminate human trafficking, a "source of shame for humanity", and hunger, which is "criminal" because food is "an inalienable right" (188-189).

The marketplace, by itself, cannot resolve every problem. It requires a reform of the UN

The politics we need, Francis also underscores, is one that says 'no' to corruption, to inefficiency, to the malign use of power, to the lack of respect for laws (177).

It is a politics centred on human dignity and not subjected to finance because "the marketplace, by itself, cannot resolve every problem": the "havoc" wreaked by financial speculation has demonstrated this (168).

Hence, popular movements have taken on particular relevance: as true "social poets" with that "torrent of moral energy", they must be engaged in social, political and economic participation, subject, however, to greater coordination.

In this way - the Pope states - it will be possible to go beyond a Policy "with" and "of" the poor (169).

Another hope present in the Encyclical regards the reform of the UN: in the face of the predominance of the economic dimension which nullifies the power of the individual state, in fact, the task of the United Nations will be to give substance to the concept of a "family of nations" working for the common good, the eradication of indigence and the protection of human rights.

Tireless recourse "to negotiation, mediation and arbitration" - the Papal Document states - the UN must promote the force of law rather than the law of force, by favouring multilateral accords that better protect even the weakest states (173-175).

The miracle of kindness

From the sixth chapter, "Dialogue and friendship in society", further emerges the concept of life as the "art of encounter" with everyone, even with the world's peripheries and with original peoples, because "each of us can learn something from others.

No one is useless and no one is expendable" (215).

True dialogue, indeed, is what allows one to respect the point of view of others, their legitimate interests and, above all, the truth of human dignity.

Relativism is not a solution - we read in the Encyclical - because without universal principals and moral norms that prohibit intrinsic evil, laws become merely arbitrary impositions (206).

From this perspective, a particular role falls to the media which, without exploiting human weaknesses or drawing out the worst in us, must be directed toward generous encounter and to closeness with the least, promoting proximity and the sense of human family (205).

Then, of particular note, is the Pope's reference to the miracle of "kindness", an attitude to be recovered because it is a star "shining in the midst of darkness" and "frees us from the cruelty … the anxiety … the frantic flurry of activity" that prevail in the contemporary era.

A kind person, writes Francis, creates a healthy coexistence and opens paths in places where exasperation burns bridges (222-224).

The art of peace and the importance of forgiveness

The value and promotion of peace is reflected on in the seventh chapter, "Paths of renewed encounter", in which the Pope underlines that peace is connected to truth, justice and mercy.

Far from the desire for vengeance, it is "proactive" and aims at forming a society based on service to others and on the pursuit of reconciliation and mutual development (227-229).

In a society, everyone must feel "at home", the Pope writes.

Thus, peace is an "art" that involves and regards everyone and in which each one must do his or her part. Peace-building is "an open-ended endeavour, a never-ending task", the Pope continues, and thus it is important to place the human person, his or her dignity and the common good at the centre of all activity (230-232).

Forgiveness is linked to peace: we must love everyone, without exception - the Encyclical reads - but loving an oppressor means helping him to change and not allowing him to continue oppressing his neighbour.

On the contrary: one who suffers an injustice must vigorously defend his rights in order to safeguard his dignity, a gift of God (241-242).

Forgiveness does not mean impunity, but rather, justice and remembrance, because to forgive does not mean to forget, but to renounce the destructive power of evil and the desire for revenge.

Never forget "horrors" like the Shoah, the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, persecutions and ethnic massacres - exhorts the Pope.

They must be remembered always, anew, so as not be become anaesthetized and to keep the flame of collective conscience alive. It is just as important to remember the good, and those who have chosen forgiveness and fraternity (246-252).

Never again war, a failure of humanity

Part of the seventh chapter, then, focuses on war: it is not "a ghost from the past" - Francis emphasizes - "but a constant threat", and it represents "the negation of all rights", "a failure of politics and of humanity", and "a stinging defeat before the forces of evil" which lies in their "abyss".

Moreover, due to nuclear chemical and biological weapons that strike many innocent civilians, today we can no longer think, as in the past, of the possibility of a "just war", but we must vehemently reaffirm: "Never again war!"

And considering that we are experiencing a "world war fought piecemeal", because all conflicts are interconnected, the total elimination of nuclear arms is "a moral and humanitarian imperative".

With the money invested in weapons, the Pope suggests instead the establishment of a global fund for the elimination of hunger (255-262).

The death penalty inadmissible, to be abolished

Francis expresses just as clear a position with regard to the death penalty: it is inadmissible and must be abolished worldwide, because "not even a murderer loses his personal dignity" - the Pope writes - "and God himself pledges to guarantee this".

From here, two exhortations: do not view punishment as vindictive, but rather as part of a process of healing and of social reintegration, and to improve prison conditions, with respect for the human dignity of the inmates, also considering that "a life sentence is a secret death penalty" (263-269).

There is emphasis on the necessity to respect "the sacredness of life" (283) where today "some parts of our human family, it appears, can be readily sacrificed", such as the unborn, the poor, the disabled and the elderly (18).

Guarantee religious freedom

In the eighth and final chapter, the Pontiff focuses on "Religions at the service of fraternity in our world" and again emphasizes that violence has no basis in religious convictions, but rather in their deformities.

Thus, "deplorable" acts, such as acts of terrorism, are not due to religion but to erroneous interpretations of religious texts, as well as "policies linked to hunger, poverty, injustice, oppression".

Terrorism must not be supported with either money or weapons, much less with media coverage, because it is an international crime against security and world peace, and as such must be condemned (282-283).

At the same time the Pope underscores that a journey of peace among religions is possible and that it is, therefore, necessary to guarantee religious freedom, a fundamental human right for all believers (279).

The Encyclical reflects, in particular, on the role of the Church: she does not "restrict her mission to the private sphere", it states.

She does not remain at the margins of society and, while not engaging in politics, however, she does not renounce the political dimension of life itself.

Attention to the common good and concern for integral human development, in fact, concern humanity, and all that is human concerns the Church, according to evangelical principals (276-278).

Lastly, reminding religious leaders of their role as "authentic mediators" who expend themselves in order to build peace, Francis quotes the "Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together", which he signed on 4 February 2019 in Abu Dhabi, along with the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmad Al-Tayyib: from that milestone of interreligious dialogue, the Pontiff returns to the appeal that, in the name of human fraternity, dialogue be adopted as the way, common cooperation as conduct, and mutual knowledge as method and standard (285).

Blessed Charles de Foucauld, "the universal brother"

The Encyclical concludes by remembering Martin Luther King, Desmond Tutu, Mahatma Gandhi and above all Blessed Charles de Foucauld, a model for everyone of what it means to identify with the least in order to become "the universal brother" (286-287).

The last lines of the Document are given to two prayers: one "to the Creator" and the other an "Ecumenical Christian Prayer", so that the heart of mankind may harbour "a spirit of fraternity".

Fratelli Tutti - Encyclical of the Holy Father, Francis, on the fraternity and social friendship

The encyclical calls for a new kind of politics and emphasises social friendship as a way to build a more just and peaceful world.

It encourages the contribution of all people and institutions and seeks to build a global movement of fraternity.

In many cases the encyclical is a condensation of the issues Francis has tacked during his pontificate.

The document covers a range of topics, for example, from digital culture, migrants, economics, war and nuclear weapons, the death penalty, religious freedom, peace, forgiveness, the markeplace, Christian charity, love, trafficking, racism, unemployment, excessive profits, culture walls and the role of christians in politics.

Among many of the topics Francis traverses, he observes that currently humanity seems to be the midst of a worrying regression and is intensely polarized.

He says people are talking and debating without listening, and global society seems to have devolved into a "permanent state of disagreement and confrontation."

In some countries, leaders are using a "strategy of ridicule" and relentless criticism, spreading despair as a way to "dominate and gain control," Francis observes.

Although beginning to write the encyclical before the outbreak of COVID-19, Francis argues the world's response to the crisis shows the depth of humanity's mistrust and fractures.

In this light, Francis says that Christians have a key role in political life and despite all the difficulties should not bow out of political engagement.

Christians, he said, must act at a local level to build relationships of trust and assistance and support politicians and political platforms that promote the common good.

"Whereas individuals can help others in need when they join together in initiating social processes of fraternity and justice for all, they enter the ‘field of charity at its most vast, namely political charity,'" he said.

Getting practical, Pope Francis explained that "if someone helps an elderly person cross a river, that is a fine act of charity. The politician, on the other hand, builds a bridge, and that too is an act of charity" but on a larger scale.

Focussing on one of society's most visible items of mistrust, Francis dwells on the fractious issue of immigration, saying that unnecessary migration needs to be avoided by creating concrete opportunities to live with dignity in the countries of origin. But at the same time, humanity needs to respect the right to seek a better life elsewhere.

Focussing on receiving countries, Francis says there needs to be a right balance between the protection of citizens' rights and the guarantee of welcome and assistance for migrants.

Saving harsh words for politicians who have "fomented and exploited" fear over immigration, Francis observes a healthy culture is a welcoming culture, one that does not have to renounce itself.

The pope observes that despite all our hyper-connectivity, we are witnesses to a global fragmentation making it difficult to resolve problems that affect us all.

The encyclical also offers some developments to Catholic social teaching, including on war where he writes that due to nuclear chemical and biological weapons that strike many innocent civilians, today we can no longer think, as in the past, of the possibility of a "just war", but we must vehemently reaffirm: "Never again war!"

The pope also expands another area of Catholic social teaching; the death penalty.

Francis says that not even a murderer loses their personal dignity and the death penalty must be abolished worldwide.

Sources

• Washington Post
• Catholic News Service
• Image: Our Father's House Soup Kitchen

In both countries, there's one Catholic for every 200 people, as opposed to roughly one for five in the United States.

The Nov. 19-26 trip will be the pontiff's fourth to Asia, following South Korea (2014), Sri Lanka and the Philippines (2015), and Bangladesh and Myanmar (2017).

Though his first priority will be to boost the small local Catholic communities, Pope Francis is bound to focus most of his 18 scheduled speeches - all in Spanish - on issues close to his heart and which heavily affect these countries.

The wide range of topics likely will include human trafficking and the exploitation of women and children in Thailand's sexual tourism industry; the death penalty; corruption; and the high number of suicides among young people.

He's also expected to call for peace and nuclear disarmament, especially during stops in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, and care for the environment.

Just to put some of these priorities into context:

• Sex tourism: Both girls and boys as young as ten years old are forced into prostitution in Thailand, either by local pedophiles or foreign sex tourists. Often they're forced to service five to ten clients a day, constituting what Pope Francis condemns as "modern day slavery," and a "crime against humanity." UNICEF describes child prostitution as "one of the gravest infringements of rights that children can endure."
• The death penalty: The pontiff recently changed the official compendium of Catholic teaching to reflect that capital punishment is never admissible. However, it's still allowed in Japan. The local Church has invited Iwao Hakamada, an 86-year old man who spent 48 years on death row, to meet Pope Francis. This former boxer and Catholic convert was released in 2014 when DNA analysis proved the evidence against him could have been planted.
• Suicide: According to a 2018 government report, 250 elementary and high school-age children in Japan took their own lives between 2016 and 2017 for a variety of reasons including bullying, family issues and stress. It's the top cause of death for people between the ages of 15 and 39, and Japan's suicide rate is the sixth highest in the world.
• Peace: While in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the world's only two cities to have experienced nuclear weapons, Francis is expected to reiterate his calls for nuclear disarmament. Though post-war Japan has a history of pacificism, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is currently attempting to revise the constitution to allow for rearmament. (The Nippon Carta Magna, article nine, states that the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right, aspiring "to an international peace based on justice and order.") Continue reading

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Sisters Eileen Brady, Mary Ellen Foley and Madonna Moran received the recognition on behalf of their community at a celebration in Concord June 22.

The New Hampshire Sisters of Mercy have long played an active role in opposing the death penalty. In December 1997, they adopted a "Corporate Stand Against the Death Penalty" and since then many sisters have served on committees, petitioned legislators, written letters to newspaper editors, testified at legislative hearings, participated in rallies and prayer vigils and prayed that the death penalty would be replaced by restorative justice. Read more

The source told CNN that Qureiris, who was arrested at the age of 13 by Saudi authorities, could be released by 2022.

Qureiris's sentence includes time served since his arrest in 2014, with the four final years on probation, leaving him with three years left in prison. Read more

Rights activist claim the clerics are facing charges of promoting an extremist agenda.

The clerics' prosecution and possible execution is unusual in Saudi Arabia where religious leaders are usually seen as untouchable.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has been taking strong action on dissent this year and prosecutors are now reportedly calling for the death penalty for the three alleged extremists. Read more

The official Vatican declaration that "the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person" was all but inevitable since Francis's speech in October on the 25th anniversary of the publication of the Catholic church's summary of its teaching, the catechism.

It was time to state clearly, he said on that occasion, that "regardless of how it is carried out", the death penalty is "per se contrary to the gospel, because it entails the willful suppression of a human life that never ceases to be sacred in the eyes of its creator and of which - ultimately - only God is the true judge and guarantor".

The per se was important, because, despite Pope John Paul II's vigorous campaigns against capital punishment, his 1983 catechism conceded it could be justified if it is "the only practicable way" to defend lives against an aggressor.

Even though he made clear that in reality "cases of absolute necessity for suppression of the offender today are very rare, if not practically non-existent", that tiniest of cracks was used by Catholic death-penalty advocates from Nebraska to the Philippines to claim that the church wasn't against it.

Even when Benedict XVI "rejoiced" in 2008 at a United Nations resolution calling for a moratorium on the death penalty, saying he hoped it would lead to "public debate on the sacred character of human life", high-profile Catholic death-penalty advocates in the US, such as the late supreme court judge Antonin Scalia, continued to insist that, unlike abortion, it was not sinful to uphold or participate in the practice of capital punishment.

But as of now, that idea is flatly contradicted by the expressed teaching of the Catholic church.

The death penalty, regardless of the means of execution, "entails cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment" and must be rejected "due to the defective selectivity of the criminal justice system and in the face of the possibility of judicial error."

What is no longer in doubt, in other words, is that Catholics always and everywhere must work to end the death penalty with at least the same vigour as they seek to end abortion or people-trafficking.

Some rightwing Catholics in America have been trying since the announcement to claim that Francis simply has no right to change what they claim has been "always" taught.

But that is to confuse a core teaching with its evolving expression. The church has always taught the defence of human life from conception to natural death, but the way that has been applied and expressed has developed. Continue reading

• Austen Ivereigh is a Catholic writer, journalist and commentator. He is author of the book Pope Francis, The Great Reformer.
• Image: Eccles and Bosco

As the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) is of universal importance to Catholics, the change will spread the church teaching about capital punishment throughout the world. It will also require Catholics to work towards abolishing the death penalty.

The decision to alter Paragraph 2267 of the CCC was announced last week by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in a ‘Letter to the Bishops.'

The letter was signed by the Congregation's Prefect, Cardinal Luis Ladaria.

Ladaria says the death penalty revision "expresses an authentic development of doctrine that is not in contradiction with the prior teachings of the Magisterium."

The change in the CCC has been developing over the past 25 years or so, with St John Paul II asking for the teaching on the death penalty to be reformulated.

Francis's changes continue the work initiated by St John Paul and takes into account concerns expressed by Pope emeritus Benedict XVI.

Ladaria says St John Paul's aim was for the CCC to better reflect the development of the doctrine that centres on the clearer awareness of the Church for the respect due to every human life, which affirms:

"Not even a murderer loses his personal dignity, and God himself pledges to guarantee this."

Ladaria said that in many occasions St John Paul intervened for the elimination of capital punishment describing it as "cruel and unnecessary."

However, at the time, some in the Vatican were concerned about how the church would explain its change in teaching.

As a result, St John Paul altered the CCC to say the death penalty was permitted only "if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor."

It goes on to say cases requiring the execution of the offender "are very rare, if not practically nonexistent."

Ladaria says Benedict's contribution to the change included appealing for "the attention of society's leaders to the need to make every effort to eliminate the death penalty."

He encouraged "political and legislative initiatives being promoted in a growing number of countries to eliminate the death penalty and to continue the substantive progress made in conforming penal law both to the human dignity of prisoners and the effective maintenance of public order," Ladaria says.

Source
NCR
https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/signs-times/pope-francis-pushes-catholics-actively-oppose-death-penalty
Vatican News
https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2018-08/pope-francis-cdf-ccc-death-penalty-revision-ladaria.html
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The first story came on Thursday, when Francis spoke at a conference celebrating the 25th anniversary of publication of the Catechism of the Catholic Church under St. Pope John Paul II, and called for a firmly abolitionist stance on the death penalty in official Catholic teaching.

"It must be strongly stated that condemning a person to the death penalty is an inhumane measure," the pope said.

"It is, of itself, contrary to the Gospel, because it is freely decided to suppress a human life that is always sacred," he added. "In the final analysis, God alone is the true judge and guarantor."

Recognizing that such a position marks a step forward in official Catholic teaching, Francis added that "doctrine cannot be conserved without allowing it to progress.

"The Word of God cannot be conserved in mothballs as if it were an old blanket to be preserved from parasites. No.

"The Word of God is a dynamic reality, always alive, that progresses and grows because it tends towards a fulfillment that men cannot stop."

The other story came on Sunday, when Francis announced his intention to convene a special Synod of Bishops in October 2019 made up of prelates from the Pan-Amazonian region, meaning Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guyana, Guyana, Perú, Venezuela, and Surinam.

The main purpose, he said, is to discuss evangelization in the region, with special attention to the oft-forgotten indigenous persons of the Amazon.

It was seen as a vintage Francis touch, inverting the usual priorities by giving more attention to the peripheries than to the self-proclaimed "center" - note, for instance, he's certainly not calling a special synod for Western Europe or North America.

The gathering is also expected to have a strong social justice imprint, in which issues such as environmental protection, a just distribution of land, workers' rights and income inequalities will all figure prominently.

In both cases, the early take was that this is just Francis being Francis - pushing the envelope, and moving the Catholic Church steadily to the left.

To be sure, there's a legitimate debate to be had (and lots of people are having it already) on both fronts. Continue reading

• John L. Allen Jr. is the editor of Crux, specializing in coverage of the Vatican and the Catholic Church.

Speaking during the 25th anniversary of St. John Paul II's revised publication of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Francis said the death penalty violates the Gospel and amounts to the voluntary killing of a human life, which "is always sacred in the eyes of the creator."

"It must be clearly stated that the death penalty is an inhumane measure that, regardless of how it is carried out, abases human dignity."

Francis went on to say the church must take a strong stand against capital punishment. This would include making changes to the Catechism.

At present the Catechism says while saying capital punishment's need is increasingly rare "if not practically non-existent," it is permissible if it's the only way to defend life against an "unjust aggressor."

(The Catechism is a question and answer guide to what Catholics should think about a wide range of moral and social issues.)

Acknowledging that in the past the Papal States allowed this "extreme and inhuman recourse," he said the Holy See had erred in allowing a mentality that was "more legalistic than Christian" and now knew better.

Noting that church doctrine can develop over time, Francis said the Catechism "should find a more adequate and coherent" way to express the Gospel message about the dignity and value of every human life.

"It's necessary to repeat that no matter how serious the crime, the death penalty is inadmissible because it attacks the inviolable dignity of the person," he said.

Source

• ABC News
• Yahoo 7
• Vatican Radio
• Image: Live Law

There are also three referendums on state ballots in the November election.

In the two death penalty cases before the court, both from Texas, one examines information given to jurors.

The other questions whether the state properly measured intellectual capability of the accused. Read more

The company is the last major drug manufacturer to take this action.

The decision has seen campaigners against the death penalty in the US say they are now close to ending the practice.

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Speaking at St Peter's Square on Sunday, the Pope said "Thou shalt not kill applies to the guilty as well as the innocent".

The Pontiff said the commandment has "absolute value".

He asked politicians around the world to "make a courageous and exemplary gesture" during the jubilee Year of Mercy.

The Pope's comments came one day before the start in Rome of an international conference against the death penalty.

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The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference president, Archbishop Denis Hart, wrote to a parliamentary inquiry into Australia's advocacy for the abolition of the death penalty.

"The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference would be happy to assist the Australian Government where it can to make contact with appropriate Holy See diplomats," the archbishop wrote.

"It would also be pleased to assist where possible with making representations to other national governments with the assistance of the respective National Catholic Bishops Conferences," he added.

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