A  Rereading of Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines’ Pastoral Statement on Death Penalty and its Communion with the State

Christopher Esparagoza

doi:10.57106/scientia.v8i2.106

Authors

Christopher Esparagoza

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.57106/scientia.v8i2.106

Keywords:

Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), death penalty, separation of Church and State, restorative justice and crime deterrence

Abstract

This paper will identify significant roles of Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines as a critical collaborator with the State. Instead of retribution and legal execution, the leaders of the Church in the Philippines are calling the government to encourage non-retribution-based justice; a non-retaliatory principle based on love, mercy and justice being taught by Jesus. Other than theological and Biblical perspectives to support above key points, multi-disciplinary approaches such as juridical, sociological, psychological, criminal justice and other fields of thought will also be used to explain the relevance of the statement of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines as a willing yet critical cooperator with the affairs of the State.

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