Pope Francis’s bold statement arrived as several US states are preparing to restart the controversial practice after several months of hiatus

Pope Francis’s unequivocal call in his speech before Congress for the death penalty to be abolished in the US comes at a critical moment in the history of the ultimate punishment, with several states preparing to restart the controversial practice after several months of interlude.

The pontiff’s bold statement on Thursday could not be misconstrued: he told the assembled members of Congress that he wanted to see the “global abolition of the death penalty”.

He rooted his opposition in fundamental moral ground, saying the conviction stemmed from his belief that “every life is sacred, every human person is endowed with inalienable dignity, and society can only benefit from the rehabilitation of those convicted of crimes”.

A total of 1,414 prisoners have been executed in the US since the modern death penalty started in 1976. Overall, the practice has been on the wane since its peak in 1999 when 98 prisoners were killed – last year that number fell to 35.

But though the wind of change is blowing against US capital punishment, a group of states, mainly in the south, continue to adhere doggedly to the contentious penalty. In June, the US supreme court in effect removed barriers to carrying out executions when it gave the go-ahead for the use of a controversial drug, midazolam, in death protocols – thus clearing a legal barrier that had been holding states back for several months.

Pope Francis addresses Washington crowd after historic speech to Congress – live Read more

Now the death penalty rump is cranking back in to executions with renewed vigor. Between now and the end of October, 11 executions are scheduled in seven states – Arkansas, Georgia, Missouri, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia.

It was within that context that the pope delivered his forthright words. Robert Dunham of the Death Penalty Information Center said that Francis commanded significant influence.

“People’s views about the death penalty are affected by a number of different things – concern for the innocent, racial discrimination, cost. But they also have moral views about the death penalty and statements by the pope and other religious figures are influential in changing beliefs,” Dunham said.

While the most heated debate over the criminal justice system is reserved for the death penalty, the pope also vented his dismay over another extreme judicial practice in the US – the meting out of life without parole sentences. Otherwise called “life means life” sentences, this involves committing convicted prisoners essentially to remain behind bars for the rest of their natural life.

The pontiff said he opposed the sentence because it removed all hope from the prisoner. “A just and necessary punishment must never exclude the dimension of hope and the goal of rehabilitation,” he said.

The US is the only country in the world that still sentences juveniles under 18 to life without parole, with some 2,500 people currently serving that sentence for crimes they committed as a child. As the ACLU has also reported, there are more than 3,000 prisoners of all ages who have been sentenced never to be set free for non-violent offenses that in one case included stealing a jacket valued at $159.