Pope Benedict encourages anti-death penalty initiatives

Pope Benedict has given a word of encouragement to those seeking the abolition of the death penalty worldwide, following his general audience at St Peter's Rome on 30 November 2011.

The leader of the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics was speaking in English to delegations from a number of countries participating in a meeting being promoted by the Sant'Egidio Community on the theme 'No Justice without Life'.

The event coincided with 'Cities for Life', the worldwide anti-capital punishment day inspired by the action of Peter Leopold Joseph of Habsburg-Lorraine, Grand Duke of Tuscany, who in 1786 promulgated a reform making his country the first state to abolish the death penalty.

Pope Benedict said said: "I express my hope that your deliberations will encourage the political and legislative initiatives being promoted in a growing number of countries to eliminate the death penalty and to continue the substantive progress made in conforming penal law both to the human dignity of prisoners and the effective maintenance of public order".

[Ekk/3]

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Casey Anthony verdict reflects high Biblical standard for death penalty

By Mark Ellis
Senior Correspondent, ASSIST News Service

CAPISTRANO BEACH, CALIFORNIA (ANS) -- Amid the anger and outrage over a verdict that seems unjust, it bears noting that the Bible sets a very high bar for convicting any person for the crime of murder and sentencing them to death.

Casey Anthony on jail phone

Several jurors who sat on the Anthony case maintain the government failed to prove its case "beyond a reasonable doubt." Arguably, this standard reflects the Bible's value of seeking justice for the victim, while avoiding a rush to judgment against the accused.

In the Book of Numbers, Moses sets forth the principle that "Anyone who kills a person is to be put to death as a murderer only on the testimony of witnesses. But no one is to be put to death on the testimony of only one witness." (Numbers 35:30)

Moses repeats the standard in the Book of Deuteronomy: "On the testimony of two or three witnesses a man shall be put to death, but no one shall be put to death on the testimony of only one witness." (Deut.17:6)

Sadly, there were no witnesses willing or able to testify regarding the tragic death of Caylee Anthony. Are actual witnesses still needed today? It should be noted that advances with DNA evidence may override the need for actual witnesses. But there was no DNA evidence in this case linking Casey to her daughter's death.

The presence of chloroform, Caylee's hair, and a suspicious odor emanating from the trunk of Casey's car seem like compelling circumstantial evidence. Her lies, her suspicious behavior, and a mountain of other evidence all argued persuasively to her guilt and left many thunderstruck by the verdict.

One juror suggests that a horrible accident happened to Caylee that was covered up by the family. Was this an accident or was this a carefully premeditated murder?

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Mark Ellis is a senior correspondent for ASSIST News Service and the founder of www.Godreports.com.  He is available to speak to groups about the plight of the church in restricted countries, to share stories and testimonies from the mission field, and to preach the gospel. mark@Godreports.com