In his first formal appointment in the Gulf nation of Bahrain, Pope Francis on November 3 condemned the use of the death penalty, which is still in force in the country and has been condemned by activists who argue that loved ones were un-fairly killed after being convicted in sham trials.
Speaking to civil authorities and members of the diplomatic corps in Bahrain, Pope Francis in his November 3 speech cited the country’s constitution, which bans discrimination on the basis of “sex, origin, language, religion or creed,” insisting that “freedom of conscience is absolute,” and that “the state guarantees the inviolability of worship.”
These are commitments that “need constantly to be put into practice,” he said, to ensure that “religious freedom will be complete and not limited to freedom of worship,” and that equal dignity and opportunities will be afforded to “each group and for every individual.”
Yet before all of these guarantees, he said, is “the right to life” and the need “to guarantee that right always, including for those being punished, whose lives should not be taken.”
An avid and outspoken opponent of the death penalty, Pope Francis has described the practice as an attack on “the dignity of the human person,” and asked that it be abolished worldwide.