Pope requires abolition of the loss of life penalty – USA is making it extra stringent | EUROtoday

As of: April 25, 2026 • 1:50 p.m

In a speech for a US college, Leo XIV referred to as for the worldwide abolition of the loss of life penalty – it’s inadmissible in accordance with church educating. Shortly earlier than, the US authorities had introduced that it will develop the loss of life penalty.

Pope Leo XIV is pushing for the worldwide abolition of the loss of life penalty. In a video tackle to DePaul University in Chicago, the top of the Catholic Church stated the loss of life penalty is inadmissible in accordance with church educating “because it represents an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person.”

The event for the speech was the fifteenth anniversary of the abolition of the loss of life penalty within the US state of Illinois, the place the Pope comes from.

“I support all those who work for the abolition of the death penalty in the United States of America and around the world,” the pope stated. Leo XIV, who was born Robert Francis Prevost in Chicago in 1955, stated he was grateful for the Illinois governor’s choice in 2011.

Human dignity additionally for felon

The Pope affirmed that human dignity isn’t misplaced even by way of the fee of essentially the most critical crimes. He additionally referred to efficient detention programs that protected residents and enabled perpetrators to be resocialized. “That is why Pope Francis and my predecessors have repeatedly emphasized that the common good can be safeguarded and the requirements of justice met without resorting to the death penalty,” Leo XIV stated.

“The right to life is the basis of all other human rights,” the Pope underlined and appealed to his listeners: “I pray that your efforts will lead to a greater recognition of the dignity of every human being and inspire others to also work for this just cause.”

Further confrontation with Trump?

Pope Leo gave his speech shortly after the US Department of Justice introduced its intention to develop the loss of life penalty within the United States. In the longer term, criminals convicted on the federal degree ought to, amongst different issues, be allowed to be shot.

In the United States, the loss of life penalty is permitted in additional than two dozen of the 50 states, however it isn’t carried out all over the place. US President Donald Trump had federal executions resumed after an nearly 20-year break throughout his first time period in workplace from 2017 to 2021.

Trump and different members of the US authorities not too long ago attacked the Pope a number of occasions after he criticized the Iran struggle began by Trump. A number of days in the past, Trump, for instance, accused the Pope of being “weak” in relation to coping with crime. The pontiff is “a man who does not believe in stopping crime,” stated the US President.

The pope had rejected the criticism and stated he was not afraid of the Trump administration. But he additionally emphasised that he was not concerned about a dispute with the US President. He continues to sentence the struggle with clear phrases. Yesterday, whereas flying again to Rome from an eleven-day journey to Africa, he instructed journalists in regards to the US strategy to the battle with Iran: “When we see certain situations, we immediately respond with the use of force, war and attack. Then we saw that many innocent people were killed.”