Vatican Denounces Death Penalty

In a statement to the 3rd World Congress Against the Death Penalty, the Vatican reiterated the need for abolition of the death penalty. The statement noted that it is "difficult to justify today" and also that it is "not only a refusal of the right to life, but is also an affront to human dignity."

While the link to the full text of the statement seems to be missing, more excerpts can be found here.

When we note that the Vatican's statement is not considering only the United States with our super-max prisons and highly developed penal system, but rather the entire globe, we realize that it is impossible to justify the use of the death penalty here in the United States.