The Pope's words must be listened to: the death penalty is an affront to the sanctity of life and - as pointed out by Pope Francis in the letter sent today to the President of the International Commission against the Death Penalty - in addition to being cruel, inhuman and degrading, it proves to be a great failure because it does not do justice to the victims, but only encourages revenge.
The Community of Sant'Egidio, which for years has conducted an international campaign against the death penalty with the movement of Cities for Life (which has been signed so far by about 2,000 municipalities in 98 countries from all continents), expresses its gratitude and its closeness to Pope Francis for the words with which he condemns executions in a strong and clear way.
The Pope encourages everyone to make our world, already full of violence and conflict, more humane and merciful by calling for a strong commitment to cancel sentences devoid of pity and long waits on death row that are real torture.
Sant'Egidio deems of great importance the appeal, contained in the same letter, to improve prison conditions, respecting the human dignity of persons deprived of their liberty.
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