The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has made public a letter explaining the change of essay in issue 2267 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, concerning the death penalty.

Especially in recent decades, Catholic doctrine has developed and increased awareness of the fundamental dignity of man as created in the image of God (human dignity does not depend on the opinion or decision of some or many) and, consequently, the respect due to every human life.

Specifically, St. John Paul II maintained in 1999 that, in this renewed perspective, the death penalty is tantamount to denying human dignity and also deprives the possibility of redemption or amendment; it is therefore a "cruel and unnecessary" punishment. The Magisterium now pronounces itself along these lines; we are not, therefore, before a rupture, but rather before a deepening within a doctrinal continuity.

The document of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith explains the three fundamental arguments used in the Catechism: 1) fundamental human dignity "is not lost even after very serious crimes have been committed"; 2) penal sanctions "must be oriented above all to the rehabilitation and social reintegration of the criminal"; 3) the systems of detention and, therefore, of defense of the common good have improved.

The Catechism now concludes, with regard to the death penalty: "the Church (...) commits herself with determination to its abolition throughout the world".