Japan executed two convicted people on Good Friday

“On this very sacred period for us Christians, Paschal Triduum, and particularly on Good Friday, it is quite unfortunate to note that the Japanese government had executed two convicted people this morning on March 25.

Apr 01, 2016

NIIGATA: “On this very sacred period for us Christians, Paschal Triduum, and particularly on Good Friday, it is quite unfortunate to note that the Japanese government had executed two convicted people this morning on March 25.

“Junko Oshida, a former nurse of 56 years, is the fifth woman to die on the Japanese scaffold since 1950: she was charged with the murder of two people for their life insurance. Yasutoshi Kamata, 75, was a serial killer: between 1985 and 1994, he killed five people, including a girl of 9.

“It is also unfortunate to note that the Japanese government has a record of executing four convicted people on Christmas day in 2006 said Msgr Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi, Bishop of Niigata and President of Caritas Asia.

“Though I know, according to the government explanation on the issue, the majority of the general public in Japan supports the government’s position on maintaining the death penalty and, I know, quite a number of Catholics in Japan also support this position. Therefore, it is not an easy task to visualize a Japan without the death penalty and it seems almost impossible to abolish this system.

“However, we, as members of the one body of Jesus Christ, should give heed to our Shepherd, Holy Father, on this particular issue. On February 21 this year, after the Angelus, the Holy Father appealed again to abolish the death penalty. The Holy Father said that “the commandment ‘You shall not kill’ has abso- lute value, and covers both the innocent and the guilty.” Then he continued saying “I appeal to the conscience of the rulers, so that we achieve an international consensus for the abolition of the death penalty.”

“This call for abolishing the death penalty has been repeated by previous Pontiffs despite the official teachings of the Catholic Church which does not forbid it.

“But for Pope Francis, it is much more than repeating the same appeal as his predecessors. This is the Jubilee Year of Mercy. So he appealed to the world leaders saying, ‘I propose to those among them who are Catholics to make a courageous and exemplary gesture that no sentence is executed in this Holy Year of Mercy’.” -- AsiaNews

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