Pope Francis called on President Joe Biden to commute the sentences of all federal death row inmates before the end of his term.
During his Angelus address on December 8, the Pope urged the faithful to join him in prayer for those awaiting execution in the US.
“Today, I feel compelled to ask all of you to pray for the inmates on death row in the United States. Let us pray that their sentences may be commuted or changed. Let us think of these brothers and sisters of ours and ask the Lord for the grace to save them from death.”
The US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has joined these calls, emphasizing the Church’s opposition to capital punishment. “President Biden has an extraordinary opportunity to advance the cause of human dignity by commuting all federal death sentences to terms of imprisonment,” said the USCCB in a public action alert.
The Church’s opposition to the death penalty was codified in 2018, when Pope Francis revised the Catechism to state that capital punishment is “inadmissible” and an “attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person.”
President Biden, a Catholic, imposed a moratorium on federal executions in 2021. The 2025 Jubilee of Hope, a Holy Year of justice and reconciliation beginning next month, presents itself as a fitting moment for Biden to demonstrate mercy by commuting federal death row sentences.
The US currently has approximately 40 individuals on federal death row.
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