I’m still amused and fascinated at how deeply Pope Leo has gotten under the skin of Christian Nationalists. I wrote about how his election first set them off, and then about their reaction to his condemnation of Trump’s unlawful war with Iran. Now in the wake of the administration’s announcement about live-streaming an execution Leo has clarified the Catholic church’s teaching on the death penalty:
Like the church’s just war teaching, this is publicly available information as the Catechism in online so once again the Christian right is surprised by reality.
I love watching these dweebs try to school the Pope:
Spoiler: Leo has a Masters degree in divinity and a Doctor of Canon Law degree.
They’re all so angry that the religious fig leaf for their bloodlust has been taken from them.
All. Those. Words.
It’s just straight up bloodlust:
Jack Graham has been in the news for sexual abuse at his megachurch:
And the recent converts are having buyer’s remorse:
This is a response that verges on honesty:
This one is honest:
He just wants a sadist who hates the same people he does as his god.
Two things are at work here. First, there is a belief that somehow Francis and Leo have changed the church’s recent teaching on capital punishment. That’s not true. While the Catholic church has had various teachings on the death penalty, the church has advocated for a very very limited application of it since Pope Paul VI abolished the death penalty at the Vatican. And by limited, it would only apply if there were no physical way to permanently hold a very dangerous person captive.
The other thing at work is the love the Christian Nationalist right, Catholic or not, has for Pope Benedict. But even that issue is complicated by the fact that Benedict opposed the death penalty personally and advocated for its abolition.
Look, nobody said these people were smart. In the meantime, enjoy their tears.
I’ll leave you with this: