教宗良十四世：死刑「不可接受」 世界反死刑日重申教会立场
教宗良十四世周六重申天主教会对死刑的反对立场，宣布死刑「不可接受」，因为它攻击了人的尊严。这条信息是为「世界反死刑日」而发。
这位在美国出生的教宗在其官方 X 账号 @Pontifex 上发文，引用了其前任方济各确立的修正教义：「死刑不可接受，因为它攻击了人的不可侵犯性与尊严。公共利益可以得到保障，正义的要求也可以在不诉诸死刑的情况下实现：有效的监禁制度已经发展起来，既保护公民，又不完全剥夺有罪者获得救赎的可能。」帖文最后附上 #NoDeathPenalty 标签。
这份声明发布之际，死刑争议正在他的祖国美国升温。五角大楼本周宣布，将直播胡德堡枪手尼达尔·哈桑的行刑式枪决——哈桑因2009年胡德堡枪击案（13死32伤）被定罪，行刑定于12月3日在德克萨斯州胡德堡进行。就在教宗发文几小时前，梵蒂冈国务卿、教宗的最高副手帕罗林枢机已明确表示，计划中的公开行刑「不可接受」。
教宗在信息中并未点名这次行刑；周六本就是世界反死刑日，教宗官方账号按惯例都会发文纪念。但这一时机凸显了教会的长期教导：即使最严重的罪行也不能抹去天主赋予人的尊严，正义可以在不夺取生命的情况下实现。
与此同时，梵蒂冈正在举行一场为期一周的主教大会，来自115多个国家的约150位主教齐聚讨论天主教家庭生活，会议持续至10月14日——这是良十四世任内迄今最大规模的教会领袖聚会。
Pope Leo XIV Declares Death Penalty 'Inadmissible' on World Day Against the Death Penalty
Pope Leo XIV on Saturday reaffirmed the Catholic Church's rejection of capital punishment, declaring the death penalty "inadmissible" as an attack on human dignity, in a message marking the World Day Against the Death Penalty.
In a post on his official X account @Pontifex, the American-born pontiff quoted the revised Catholic teaching ushered in by his predecessor Pope Francis: "The death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person. The common good can be safeguarded and the requirements of justice can be met without recourse to capital punishment: effective systems of detention have been developed that protect citizens while at the same time do not completely deprive those who are guilty of the possibility of redemption." The post closed with the hashtag #NoDeathPenalty.
The statement landed as the death penalty debate flares in his native United States. The Pentagon announced this week that the firing-squad execution of Nidal Malik Hasan — convicted of killing 13 people and wounding 32 others in the 2009 Fort Hood shooting — will be livestreamed, with the execution set for December 3 at Fort Hood, Texas. Hours before the pope's post, his top deputy, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, explicitly called the planned public execution "unacceptable."
The pope did not refer specifically to the planned execution in his message; Saturday is the World Day Against the Death Penalty, and it is customary for the pontiff's official accounts to mark such commemorations. But the timing underscored the Church's longstanding teaching: that even the gravest crimes do not extinguish the God-given dignity of the person, and that justice can be served without taking a life.
The message also comes as the Vatican hosts a week-long assembly of some 150 bishops from more than 115 countries on Catholic family life, running through October 14 — the largest gathering of Church leaders of Leo's pontificate so far.
图片来源：Jebulon 摄，CC0（Wikimedia Commons）
