The New Catholic Teaching on the Death Penalty and Human Dignity

Cardinal Blase Cupich, the ninth Bishop of the Archdiocese of Chicago, speaks with DPIC Executive Director Robert Dunham about the implications of the new Catholic Catechism promulgated by Pope Francis, which deemed the death penalty “inadmissible” in all cases and committed the Church to working to abolish capital punishment in the United States and worldwide. Saying “human dignity is at center of all we say and do,” Cardinal Cupich explains how the Church’s commitment to action on the death penalty fits into its broader teachings about social justice and the sanctity of life. “Let’s be honest,” he says. “No life that was taken away can ever be replaced by taking away another life. We cannot teach that killing is wrong by killing.”