REALLY PRO-LIFE
California Gov. Gavin Newsom told Catholic News Service that Pope Francis was "proud" of the state's efforts to halt use of capital punishment.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom told Catholic News Service that Pope Francis was "proud" of the state's efforts to halt use of capital punishment.
Justin McLellan
May 16, 2024
California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks with Catholic News Service Correspondent Justin McLellan during a summit, titled "From Climate Crisis to Climate Resilience," outside the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican May 16, 2024. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis supports the steps taken by California to halt the use of the death penalty, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said.
Newsom told Catholic News Service that during their meeting May 16, the pope "immediately brought up the issue of the death penalty."
The governor said that during their exchange the pope expressed "how proud he was of the work we're doing in California."
Newsom was at the Vatican for a summit on climate resilience that brought seven other governors and 16 mayors from around the world to Rome. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu were the other U.S. elected officials who participated in the summit.
Newsom told CNS after his meeting with Pope Francis that he was "struck" by the pope's sudden comments to him on the death penalty.
"I wasn’t anticipating that, especially in the context of this convening," he said.
While capital punishment remains legal in California, Newsom signed an executive order in 2019 implementing a moratorium on executions. The state has not executed anyone since 2006
May 16, 2024
California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks with Catholic News Service Correspondent Justin McLellan during a summit, titled "From Climate Crisis to Climate Resilience," outside the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican May 16, 2024. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis supports the steps taken by California to halt the use of the death penalty, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said.
Newsom told Catholic News Service that during their meeting May 16, the pope "immediately brought up the issue of the death penalty."
The governor said that during their exchange the pope expressed "how proud he was of the work we're doing in California."
Newsom was at the Vatican for a summit on climate resilience that brought seven other governors and 16 mayors from around the world to Rome. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu were the other U.S. elected officials who participated in the summit.
Newsom told CNS after his meeting with Pope Francis that he was "struck" by the pope's sudden comments to him on the death penalty.
"I wasn’t anticipating that, especially in the context of this convening," he said.
While capital punishment remains legal in California, Newsom signed an executive order in 2019 implementing a moratorium on executions. The state has not executed anyone since 2006
.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a summit, titled “From Climate Crisis to Climate Resilience,” in the synod hall at the Vatican May 16, 2024.
(CNS photo/Lola Gomez)
California has the largest death row in the United States with 638 condemned inmates as of May 6, the last time the public data was updated. But in 2022 Newsom announced he was closing down the state's two death row facilities -- at San Quentin for men and Chowchilla for women -- and would move prisoners to different facilities. The moves are supposed to be completed by the end of the summer.
Making his announcement at a news conference in January 2022, Newsom said, "The prospect of your ending up on death row has more to do with your wealth and race than it does your guilt or innocence."
In his pontificate, Pope Francis has expanded church teaching on the capital punishment, condemning it in all instances.
The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith said the death penalty "violates the inalienable dignity of every person, regardless of the circumstances" in a recent document written by Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, dicastery prefect, and signed by Pope Francis.
The document, "Dignitas Infinita" ("Infinite Dignity") released at the Vatican April 8, also reaffirmed the dignity of incarcerated people "who often must live in undignified conditions."
While the Catechism of the Catholic Church previously taught that capital punishment could be justified in only "very rare, if not practically non-existent" circumstances, Pope Francis ordered an update to the catechism in 2018 to state that "the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person."
The catechism continues to state that the Catholic Church "works with determination for its abolition worldwide."
California has the largest death row in the United States with 638 condemned inmates as of May 6, the last time the public data was updated. But in 2022 Newsom announced he was closing down the state's two death row facilities -- at San Quentin for men and Chowchilla for women -- and would move prisoners to different facilities. The moves are supposed to be completed by the end of the summer.
Making his announcement at a news conference in January 2022, Newsom said, "The prospect of your ending up on death row has more to do with your wealth and race than it does your guilt or innocence."
In his pontificate, Pope Francis has expanded church teaching on the capital punishment, condemning it in all instances.
The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith said the death penalty "violates the inalienable dignity of every person, regardless of the circumstances" in a recent document written by Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, dicastery prefect, and signed by Pope Francis.
The document, "Dignitas Infinita" ("Infinite Dignity") released at the Vatican April 8, also reaffirmed the dignity of incarcerated people "who often must live in undignified conditions."
While the Catechism of the Catholic Church previously taught that capital punishment could be justified in only "very rare, if not practically non-existent" circumstances, Pope Francis ordered an update to the catechism in 2018 to state that "the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person."
The catechism continues to state that the Catholic Church "works with determination for its abolition worldwide."
Pope Francis tells CBS’ ‘60 Minutes’ that U.S. conservative Catholics have ‘suicidal attitude’
First-ever papal interview with American network was taped in April
By Mark A. Kellner - The Washington Times - Sunday, May 19, 2024
Pope Francis blasted critics of his 11-year pontificate Sunday, saying conservative Catholics manifest “a suicidal attitude.”
In a unique interview with a Western news agency, Francis delivered that judgment after CBS News anchor Norah O’Donnell asked him about U.S. bishops who have criticized his policies such as approving blessings for partners in same-sex relationships.
“There are conservative bishops in the United States that oppose your new efforts to revisit teachings and traditions. How do you address their criticism?” Ms. O’Donnell said.
“Conservative is one who clings to something and does not want to see beyond that. It is a suicidal attitude,” said the 87-year-old pontiff.
Francis spoke with Ms. O’Donnell on April 24, and the network will air the interview Sunday evening on “60 Minutes.” CBS said it will broadcast a one-hour version Monday, and both programs will be available on the Paramount+ streaming service.
Francis said traditions must be viewed carefully.
“One thing is to take tradition into account, to consider situations from the past,” he told Ms. O’Donnell. “But quite another is to be closed up inside a dogmatic box. A bishop must be a shepherd and the shepherd must be in the middle of his herd and maybe right in there with his flock, be it pretty, ugly, big, small, good or bad.”
“We could not divide the world into conservatives or non-conservatives and those are ideological divisions that are no good at all,” he added.
Critics would say the Argentinian-born pontiff, the first Jesuit to serve in that position, has stoked his own ideological divisions. In December, the Vatican said priests could give a “blessing” to those in “irregular” relationships including same-sex relationships, so long as those blessings did not resemble a Catholic marriage rite.
In November, Francis removed Bishop Joseph Strickland, at the time the head of the Catholic diocese in Tyler, Texas. The prelate had been a staunch critic of Francis’ pontificate.
At roughly the same time, reports emerged that Francis had stripped retired Cardinal Raymond L. Burke, the former archbishop of St. Louis, Missouri, of his Vatican salary and rent-free apartment. The cardinal had twice sent critical questions, known as “dubia,” to the pontiff, which were later made public.
Billed as the first American network television interview with a pope, Francis’ remarks follow his lowest-yet survey rankings among American Catholics. In April, the Pew Research Center found his overall approval at 75%, down 8 percentage points from September 2021.
Pew said a “large partisan divide” among U.S. Catholics was a big factor in the pope’s lower approval numbers.
In August 2023, during a meeting with Jesuits in Lisbon, Portugal, Francis said a “reactionary attitude” among some American Catholics was “useless,” saying they “need to understand that there is an appropriate evolution in the understanding of matters of faith and morals.”
• Mark A. Kellner can be reached at mkellner@washingtontimes.com.
First-ever papal interview with American network was taped in April
Pope Francis speaks with CBS News anchor Norah O’Donnell on April 24, in an interview to be broadcast first on the network’s “60 Minutes” program Sunday evening.
(CBS News/Andrew Verdugo, used with permission.)
By Mark A. Kellner - The Washington Times - Sunday, May 19, 2024
Pope Francis blasted critics of his 11-year pontificate Sunday, saying conservative Catholics manifest “a suicidal attitude.”
In a unique interview with a Western news agency, Francis delivered that judgment after CBS News anchor Norah O’Donnell asked him about U.S. bishops who have criticized his policies such as approving blessings for partners in same-sex relationships.
“There are conservative bishops in the United States that oppose your new efforts to revisit teachings and traditions. How do you address their criticism?” Ms. O’Donnell said.
“Conservative is one who clings to something and does not want to see beyond that. It is a suicidal attitude,” said the 87-year-old pontiff.
Francis spoke with Ms. O’Donnell on April 24, and the network will air the interview Sunday evening on “60 Minutes.” CBS said it will broadcast a one-hour version Monday, and both programs will be available on the Paramount+ streaming service.
Francis said traditions must be viewed carefully.
“One thing is to take tradition into account, to consider situations from the past,” he told Ms. O’Donnell. “But quite another is to be closed up inside a dogmatic box. A bishop must be a shepherd and the shepherd must be in the middle of his herd and maybe right in there with his flock, be it pretty, ugly, big, small, good or bad.”
“We could not divide the world into conservatives or non-conservatives and those are ideological divisions that are no good at all,” he added.
Critics would say the Argentinian-born pontiff, the first Jesuit to serve in that position, has stoked his own ideological divisions. In December, the Vatican said priests could give a “blessing” to those in “irregular” relationships including same-sex relationships, so long as those blessings did not resemble a Catholic marriage rite.
In November, Francis removed Bishop Joseph Strickland, at the time the head of the Catholic diocese in Tyler, Texas. The prelate had been a staunch critic of Francis’ pontificate.
At roughly the same time, reports emerged that Francis had stripped retired Cardinal Raymond L. Burke, the former archbishop of St. Louis, Missouri, of his Vatican salary and rent-free apartment. The cardinal had twice sent critical questions, known as “dubia,” to the pontiff, which were later made public.
Billed as the first American network television interview with a pope, Francis’ remarks follow his lowest-yet survey rankings among American Catholics. In April, the Pew Research Center found his overall approval at 75%, down 8 percentage points from September 2021.
Pew said a “large partisan divide” among U.S. Catholics was a big factor in the pope’s lower approval numbers.
In August 2023, during a meeting with Jesuits in Lisbon, Portugal, Francis said a “reactionary attitude” among some American Catholics was “useless,” saying they “need to understand that there is an appropriate evolution in the understanding of matters of faith and morals.”
• Mark A. Kellner can be reached at mkellner@washingtontimes.com.
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