"Let us pray that the death penalty, which attacks the inviolability and dignity of the person , will be abolished in the laws of all the countries of the world".

Pope Francis affirms this in his prayer intention for the month of September: "Every day the 'no' to the death penalty is growing throughout the world. For the Church, this is a sign of hope", observes the Pontiff. "From a legal point of view, it is not necessary - he stresses -. Society can effectively repress crime without definitively depriving the perpetrator of the possibility of redemption ".

"In every condemnation there must always be a window of hope", explains the Pope, according to whom "capital punishment does not offer justice to the victims , but feeds revenge. And it avoids any possibility of remedying a possible judicial error. "" On the other hand, morally, the death penalty is inadequate: it destroys the most important gift we have received, life ".

"Let us not forget that, until the last moment, a person can convert and can change - warns Francis -. And in the light of the Gospel, the death penalty is inadmissible: the commandment 'do not kill' refers to both the innocent and the guilty". For this, the Pontiff concludes, "I ask all people of good will to mobilize to obtain the abolition of the death penalty throughout the world".

(Unioneonline / D)

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