教宗⽅濟各
眾位弟兄通諭:265-266
死刑

265. 教會在建立的最初幾個世紀，已有人明確反對死刑。例如：拉克旦（Lactantius）堅稱「殺人永遠是罪行，沒有例外。」教宗尼各老一世促請，「力爭所有人免於死刑，不僅為每一個無辜者，也為所有犯罪者爭取。」法官就兩位司鐸被殺案作出判決之際，聖奧斯定請求法官不要奪走謀殺犯的性命。他的理由是：「我們不反對閣下剝奪這些惡人的自由，以免他們再犯罪。但我們切望正義獲伸張的同時，不會奪走他們的生命，或殘害他們身體的任何部位。同時，通過法律的壓力，他們得以擺脫無理的憤怒，重回明智者的平靜生活；擺脫惡行，重拾有益的工作。這也是一種譴責，但 誰不明白這是為了其益處而非懲罰，因為不會施以殘酷 的傷害，而補救措施也旨在令他們悔改。即使對不義感到不滿，也不要忘記人性。不要針對罪犯的暴行發洩復仇的慾望，而應切願治癒這些罪人的創傷。」

266. 恐懼和怨恨很容易驅使人以報復甚至殘酷的態度理解懲罰，而不是將其視為治癒和重新融入社會的過程。今天，「部分政界和媒體不時煽動公開或私下暴力和報復，不僅針對犯罪者，還針對那些被懷疑違反法律的人，不管有沒有真憑實據。目前還有一種蓄意塑造敵人形象的傾向，讓這種典型的敵人兼具所有被社會視為有所威脅的特質。塑造這種形象的機制與當時允許種族主義思想擴散的機制相同。」這使某些國家越來越慣於採取預防性拘留、不經審訊的監禁，尤其是死刑，並增加這些手法的危險性。

Pope Francis
Fratelli Tutti: 265-266
The death penalty

265. From the earliest centuries of the Church, some were clearly opposed to capital punishment. Lactantius, for example, held that "there ought to be no exception at all; that it is always unlawful to put a man to death". [252. Pope Nicholas I urged that efforts be made "to free from the punishment of death not only each of the innocent, but all the guilty as well". During the trial of the murderers of two priests, Saint Augustine asked the judge not to take the life of the assassins with this argument: "We do not object to your depriving these wicked men of the freedom to commit further crimes. Our desire is rather that justice be satisfied without the taking of their lives or the maiming of their bodies in any part. And, at the same time, that by the coercive measures provided by the law, they be turned from their irrational fury to the calmness of men of sound mind, and from their evil deeds to some useful employment. This too is considered a condemnation, but who does not see that, when savage violence is restrained and remedies meant to produce repentance are provided, it should be considered a benefit rather than a mere punitive measure... Do not let the atrocity of their sins feed a desire for vengeance, but desire instead to heal the wounds which those deeds have inflicted on their souls".

266. Fear and resentment can easily lead to viewing punishment in a vindictive and even cruel way, rather than as part of a process of healing and reintegration into society. Nowadays, "in some political sectors and certain media, public and private violence and revenge are incited, not only against those responsible for committing crimes, but also against those suspected, whether proven or not, of breaking the law... There is at times a tendency to deliberately fabricate enemies: stereotyped figures who represent all the characteristics that society perceives or interprets as threatening. The mechanisms that form these images are the same that allowed the spread of racist ideas in their time". This has made all the more dangerous the growing practice in some countries of resorting to preventive custody, imprisonment without trial and especially the death penalty.