Pope Francis has appealed for an international consensus to abolish the death penalty.
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.