Two in three US Catholics support the death penalty, Pew survey finds
A Pew Research Center survey found that 65 percent of American Catholics favor capital punishment for people convicted of murder, a position at odds with the teaching of Pope Leo XIV.
Sixty-five percent of Catholics in the United States support the death penalty for people convicted of murder, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center. That includes 28 percent who strongly support it. Pope Leo XIV has repeatedly taught that human life must be respected and protected from conception to natural death.
Pew surveyed 3,554 American adults between July 6 and July 12. It found that 66 percent of the general public supports capital punishment in murder cases and 32 percent opposes it. Among Catholics, opposition is slightly higher, at 34 percent, including 15 percent who are strongly opposed.
Catholic attitudes track closely with those of the wider American public. Current Church teaching is more restrictive than public opinion. Leo XIV has rejected the death penalty, saying in April that the practice is condemnable.
This change in teaching is in line with the doctrinal development begun by Pope Francis, who in 2018 approved a revision of the Catechism stating that the death penalty is inadmissible because it attacks the inviolability and dignity of the human person. At issue is whether it is morally acceptable to take the life of a convicted criminal when other means exist to protect society.
The survey also found that many Americans do not support the death penalty out of a belief that it deters crime. Fifty-nine percent of respondents said capital punishment does not prevent future murders, and nearly three-quarters said there is a risk that an innocent person will be executed.
Among Catholics, 64 percent said the death penalty is morally justified in murder cases and 32 percent said it is morally wrong. The political divide is wider: 84 percent of Republicans support capital punishment, while Democrats are nearly split, with 51 percent in favor and 48 percent opposed.
Age also shapes the responses. Among adults aged 18 to 29, 58 percent said the death penalty is morally wrong, compared with 47 percent of those over 65.
The Church links its opposition to the death penalty to a broader understanding of human dignity. A person does not forfeit that dignity by committing a serious crime, and the Church's defense of human life is not limited to those considered innocent or socially useful.
