Vatican Eliminates Death Penalty from its Books

REVISION ELIMINATES DEATH PENALTY FROM HOLY SEE’S BOOKS

From Tribune News Services
>
A revamped Vatican constitution coming out next month officially
takes the death penalty off the Holy See’s books.

Pope Paul VI abolished the death penalty within the walls of the
Vatican in the 1960s. However, capital punishment remains in the text
of the constitution, which dates to the 1929 creation of the modern
Vatican city-state, a Vatican spokesman, Rev. Ciro Benedettini, said
Friday.

Under the modern state, “it was never put into effect,”
Benedettini said.

The constitutional revision, the first since 1929, removes
anachronisms such as the death penalty from the code, Benedettini
said.

“After so many years, something must be reviewed,” he said. “Being
such a small state, we don’t need to do it often.”

The revised constitution takes effect Feb. 22.

Under the

Vatican’s 1929 Lateran treaty with Benito Mussolini’s
government, the Vatican is a sovereign nation within Italy, with its
own courts and government.

While the Vatican now is strongly opposed to the death penalty,
Vatican use of capital punishment persisted into the 19th Century with
hangings under Pope Pius IX.

http://chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/article/0,2669,SAV-0101280043,FF.html

Related FAMVIN Posts:

• No Related FAMVIN Posts