Dignitas infinita, the 2024 document of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, lists capital punishment as one of the acts which “violate[] the inalienable dignity of every person, regardless of the circumstances.”  Recently, Pope Leo has been pressing this claim more and more aggressively.

The bare word “dignity” is distressingly malleable.  Why is it that executing a man is contrary to the inalienable dignity of every person, but locking him in a prison, away from his family, freedom, and friends, is not?

In fact, Genesis 9:6 seems to maintain that capital punishment is legitimate precisely because of the inalienable dignity of every person:  “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for God made man in his own image.”

Many other passages of Scripture speak similarly.  According to the Vatican II document Dei verbum, “since everything asserted by the inspired authors or sacred writers must be held to be asserted by the Holy Spirit, it follows that the books of Scripture must be acknowledged as teaching solidly, faithfully and without error that truth which God wanted put into sacred writings for the sake of salvation.”

Someone might say, “Yes, but we understand things better now.”  Perhaps, but we don’t understand things better than the Author of divine revelation.

Someone might say, “Yes, but Holy Scripture must be interpreted by the Church.”  True, but a reversal of the meaning cannot count as an interpretation of the meaning.

Someone might say, “Yes, but Genesis 9:6 doesn’t imply that the ultimate human punishment must always be carried out.”  True again, I think, but this fact hardly implies that it may never be carried out.  Mercy cannot imply abolition of justice.

Someone might say, “Yes, but today we have prisons, and as Pope Leo said, “effective systems of detention can be and have been developed that protect citizens.”  But if the premise is protection, then the argument is not that capital punishment is intrinsically wrong, but that now we can protect people better.  This is a prudential judgment, not a matter of principle, and it can be disputed.  Our prisons do keep criminals away from citizens -- for a while.  But not only are we reluctant to sentence criminals even to prison, but our prisons tend to make them worse, so that they are often even more dangerous after incarceration than before.  And if protection is the goal, then shouldn’t it be pointed out that concentrating criminals in prison takes away most of their protection from other criminals?

The fundamental, the inescapable problem is that Holy Scripture says P, but recent Catholic teaching seems to say not-P.

A contradiction cannot be the authentic Magisterium.  Not even the Holy Father can oblige a faithful Catholic to embrace a logical contradiction.  Not even if he claims that the Church has consistently taught the inconsistency – which it has not.

Speaking as a representative Catholic, I have changed my mind about a lot of things under the guidance of the Church.  I am prepared to change my mind again, if I can be shown that I am not being asked to embrace a logical contradiction.

But show me.