The Catholic bishops of Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands strongly oppose the use of the death penalty. In a new Pastoral Letter on the issue of the death penalty the bishops say capital punishment has “no place in a Christian country, where true justice and mercy should prevail.” The bishops say where executions Read more
An Irish missionary in Indonesia says Brazilian Roderigo Gularte seemingly did not realise that he was going to be executed. Gularte suffered from schizophrenia and he also had a bipolar disorder. “I was joking with him, saying that ‘I am 72; I will be up there with you soon enough,” said Father Charles Burrows. He Read more
The Archbishop of Jakarta, Ignatius Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo, has expressed his concern over Indonesia’s use of the death penalty. He has also criticised the way two Australian detainees Andrew Chan and Myuran Shaveukumaran have been treated. Following Easter Sunday mass, in Jakarta, Archbishop Ignatius told reporters the church was strictly against the use of the death Read more
As Indonesia prepares to execute up to 11 prisoners, including two Australians, a Brazilian and a Nigerian national, amid international uproar, the spotlight has been thrown on the use of the death penalty in the country. There are dozens more prisoners on death row and the government has declared there will be no mercy for Read more
In a rare display of unity, liberal and conservative US Catholic publications have issued a combined editorial calling for an end to the death penalty. The editorial boards of America magazine, the National Catholic Register, the National Catholic Reporter and Our Sunday Visitor issued the statement. The editorial urges readers and “the whole US Catholic Read more
Pope Francis has called for the abolition of life imprisonment, saying that it is another, hidden, form of the death penalty. At a meeting with representatives of the International Association of Penal Law last week, the Pope denounced what he called “penal populism”. This promises to solve society’s problems by punishing crime instead of pursuing Read more
A male nurse in Kenya has been sentenced to death after a botched abortion ended the lives of a woman and her unborn child. Clinic owner and nurse Jackson Namunya Tali testified that Christine Atieno had asked for his help after a botched abortion. She died in his vehicle as he drove her to another Read more
Bishop Paul Mea says his church will not support introducing the death penalty. He says there are other measures that can be taken to try to reduce violence in the community. The Kiribati parliament has passed the first reading of the bill and leaders are supposed to hold consultations with their electorate before the second Read more
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Christof Heyns, is in Papua New Guinea assessing the newly imposed death penalty. Death by lethal injection has been legislated as the preferred method for judicial killings in PNG. Previously, hanging was the only option for capital punishment but it’s now considered barbaric and Read more
The Archbishop of Mt Hagen in Papua New Guinea, Douglas Young, has expressed his deep concern at PNG’s Justice Minister’s determination to execute 13 men currently on death row. After many months of public condemnation of PNG’s revived and expanded death penalty laws, Archbishop Young says Church leaders are now looking at hosting a national and Read more