Pope Calls on Catholic Countries Not to Execute Anyone This Year
Pope Francis on Sunday, while calling on authorities in Catholic countries to refrain from carrying out death sentences in 2016, expressed hope that capital punishment would be abolished in all countries.
The leader of Catholics worldwide said in his speech at St. Peter’s Square: “Your command ‘Thou shalt not kill’ has absolute value and must be applied to the innocent and even to criminals and sinners. Life, which is a divine gift, and criminals too should benefit from this right.”
In total, 10 U.S. states have abolished capital punishment, and in 2015, only 28 people were executed in the country, which was the lowest number in the past sixteen years. Capital punishment was reinstated in the country in 1976, and since that year, a total of one thousand four hundred and twenty-two people have been executed. According to the official global death penalty information website, 2,984 people are also awaiting execution in American prisons.
China, Iran, and Saudi Arabia had the highest execution rates last year, and after these three countries, Iraq and America ranked fourth and fifth in execution numbers.
According to Amnesty International, in 2014, at least 289 people were executed in Iran, some of whom were under eighteen years old at the time of committing their crime.
