Catechism of the Catholic Church

=== Paragraph 2267 (capital punishment) ===
{{Main|Catholic Church and capital punishment#Modification to the Catechism (2018)}}
One of the changes in the 1997 update consisted of the inclusion of the position on the [[death penalty]] that is defended in John Paul II's [[encyclical]] ''[[Evangelium vitae]]'' of 1995.<ref>{{cite web|title=The death penalty and the catechism|url=http://old.usccb.org/sdwp/national/criminal/catechism.shtml|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130312145145/http://old.usccb.org/sdwp/national/criminal/catechism.shtml|archive-date=12 March 2013|access-date=12 May 2012|publisher=[[United States Conference of Catholic Bishops]]}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=May 2016}}

The paragraph dealing with the death penalty (2267) was revised again by [[Pope Francis]] in 2018.

The text previously stated (1997):<ref name="Bordoni">{{Cite web|date=August 2, 2018|title=Pope Francis: 'death penalty inadmissable' – Vatican News|url=https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2018-08/pope-francis-cdf-ccc-death-penalty-revision-ladaria.html|website=www.vaticannews.va}}</ref>

{{cquote|Assuming that the guilty party's identity and responsibility have been fully determined, the traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude recourse to the death penalty, if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor.

If, however, non-lethal means are sufficient to defend and protect people's safety from the aggressor, authority will limit itself to such means, as these are more in keeping with the concrete conditions of the common good and more in conformity to the dignity of the human person.

Today, in fact, as a consequence of the possibilities which the state has for effectively preventing crime, by rendering one who has committed an offense incapable of doing harm – without definitely taking away from him the possibility of redeeming himself – the cases in which the execution of the offender is an absolute necessity "are very rare, if not practically nonexistent."
}}

The 2018 change to the ''Catechism'' reads:<ref>{{cite web|title=Nuova redazione del n. 2267 del Catechismo della Chiesa Cattolica sulla pena di morte|url=http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2018/08/02/0556/01209.html|access-date=9 August 2018|publisher=[[Holy See Press Office]]}}</ref><ref name="Bordoni" />

{{cquote|Recourse to the death penalty on the part of legitimate authority, following a fair trial, was long considered an appropriate response to the gravity of certain crimes and an acceptable, albeit extreme, means of safeguarding the common good.

Today, however, there is an increasing awareness that the dignity of the person is not lost even after the commission of very serious crimes. In addition, a new understanding has emerged of the significance of penal sanctions imposed by the state. Lastly, more effective systems of detention have been developed, which ensure the due protection of citizens but, at the same time, do not definitively deprive the guilty of the possibility of redemption.

Consequently, the Church teaches, in the light of the Gospel, that "the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person", and the Catholic Church works with determination for its abolition worldwide.
}}