The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune

The Nassau Guardian argued in its October 12 editorial that Catholic change on the death penalty should be followed in The Bahamas. The Guardian was accurate when it stated that the Vatican announced that the death penalty is “inadmissible as it violates the dignity of mankind.” This groundbreaking announcement was made on August 2, 2018. What’s more, it was also announced on that day that the Catechism of the Catholic Church will be revised to reflect this change. The Catechism was first published in 1992 under the auspices of the late Pope John Paul II. The 1992 publication was probably in commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council which began in 1962 and ended in 1965.

Ironically, the publication’s main editor was none other than Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, better known as Pope Benedict XVI. In the introduction, Pope John Paul II said that the Catechism is a statement of the Catholic faith and doctrine. My 1995 Image Book and Doubleday edition has just over 800 pages.

Unbeknownst to many Bahamians, Vatican City is an independent state, much like The Bahamas and Italy, where it is located. Though diminutive in size, the Vatican has its own police, the Corps of Gendarmerie, and its own government, which is theocratic in nature and is headed by the Pontifical Commission under the direct administration of the Pope. The Vatican received its independence from Italy in 1929 under the Lateran Treaty. The leader of the National Fascist Party, Benito Mussolini, was the prime minister of Italy during that time. Ironically, the Guardian editorial was published in the anniversary month of the Protestant Reformation. On October 31, 1517 - 501 years ago - an Augustinian monk named Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses on the door of Wittenberg Castle church. The Protestant Reformation was the second major split the Catholic Church had experienced. The first major split occurred in 1054, when the Eastern Church severed ties with the Catholic Church. A third major split occurred in 1534 when the Church of England under King Henry VIII abandoned Catholicism and formed the Anglican Church.

The Catholic population in The Bahamas is in the minority. In fact, a mere 14.5 percent of the Bahamian population is Catholic, whereas a whopping 80 percent is Protestant. Should a predominantly Protestant jurisdiction’s position on capital punishment be guided by the Vatican, whose adherents make up a minority of the population? Bear in mind that the last murders committed in Vatican City were in 1998, when Pontifical Swiss Guard Alois Esterman and his wife, Gladys Meza Romero, were killed by Cedric Tornay, who was also a member of the Swiss Guard. That means that the Vatican has had only two murders over the last 20 years. Despite the rash of petty crimes in Vatican City, due to the millions of pilgrims that flock to the holy city annually, the security situation for its 1,000 residents is utopian, when compared to The Bahamas and other jurisdictions in the region. The Bahamas recorded 123 murders in 2017; 111 in 2016 and 146 in 2015. I believe there have been about 50 murders in 2018. That’s 430 murders committed in The Bahamas over the last 46 months. That is nearly half the Vatican population. As the old African proverb goes, he who knows it, feels it.

With all due respect to Pope Francis, he is hardly in a position to commiserate with average Bahamians, especially in war torn Nassau. I commend the pontiff for valuing human life. But his position on the death penalty conflicts with the biblical position on government and its important role in keeping the peace and punishing violent malefactors. No papal declaration should be uttered that would frustrate the government’s efforts in protecting its citizens. Murderers pose a threat to not only Protestants or Eastern Orthodox adherents, but to Catholics as well.

At the end of the day, Bahamians, particularly those who subscribe to the Catholic faith, must decide if “sola Scriptura’’ is sufficient.

Regarding the thorny subject of capital punishment, the Bahamian government must make a decision that is in the best interest of its citizens, many of whom are tired of the wanton bloodletting on our streets. The government should not adopt the Catholic church’s position on capital punishment. When the next election rolls around in 2022, neither Pope Francis nor Vatican residents will be entering into those polling booths to cast their ballots.

KEVIN EVANS

Freeport, GB

October 14, 2018