Pope's monthly video: for small and medium-sized entrepreneursThe death penalty and human dignityPope Francis' monthly video for September calls for the abolition of the death penalty. On this occasion, Francis invites us to pray "that the death penalty, which violates the inviolability and dignity of the person, may be abolished in the laws of all the countries of the world".
Pope Francis' words throughout the video say:
"Every day the NO to the death penalty grows more and more throughout the world. For the Church this is a sign of hope.
From a legal point of view, it is not necessary.
Society can effectively repress crime without definitively depriving the perpetrator of the possibility of redeeming himself.
Always, in every sentence, there must be a window of hope. Capital punishment does not offer justice to the victims, but encourages revenge. And it avoids any possibility of undoing a possible miscarriage of justice.
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 be converted and can change.
And in the light of the Gospel, the death penalty is inadmissible. The commandment "thou shalt not kill" refers to both the innocent and the guilty.
I therefore call on all people of goodwill to mobilize for the abolition of the death penalty worldwide.
Let us pray that the death penalty, which violates the inviolability and dignity of the person, be abolished in the laws of all countries of the world".
World Network of Prayer for the Pope
The Pope's Video is an official initiative aimed at disseminating the Holy Father's monthly prayer intentions. It is developed by the Pope's Worldwide Prayer Network, with the support of Vatican Media. The Pope's Worldwide Prayer Network is a Pontifical Work whose mission is to mobilize Catholics through prayer and action in the face of the challenges of humanity and the mission of the Church.
It was founded in 1844 as the Apostleship of Prayer and is made up of more than 22 million Catholics. It includes its youth branch, the Eucharistic Youth Movement (EYM). In December 2020 the Pope constituted this pontifical work as a Vatican foundation and approved its new statutes.
