Orthodoxy and Capital Punishment

Capital Punishment: Points to Consider by Jim Forest
http://incommunion.org/?p=353

Blessed are the Meek: Capital Punishment and the Gospel by Fr. Thomas Mueller
http://incommunion.org/?p=423

Regarding the Church’s opposition to capital punishment by Fr. Ted Bobosh
http://incommunion.org/?p=610

A bishop’s opposition to capital punishment by Bishop Seraphim of Ottawa
http://incommunion.org/?p=303

The Voice of the Victim by Fr. Jacques-Jude Lépine
http://incommunion.org/?p=566

Doing Justice, Loving Mercy by Catherine Brockenborough
http://incommunion.org/?p=565

Assessing the Death Penalty: Let the Punishment Fit the Time by Danny Abbott
http://incommunion.org/?p=1191

Jurisdictional Statements

In “Bases of the Social Concept of the Russian Orthodox Church” adopted by the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, the abolition of the death penalty is condemned, in part because it denies the criminal the opportunity for repentance among other reasons:

http://orthodoxeurope.org/page/3/14.aspx

The Orthodox Church in America condemns capital punishment without exception at its All American Council held in St. Louis in 1989:

http://yya.oca.org/TheHub/Articles/TheChurchonCurrentIssues/CapPunish.htm

Statements from Church Hierarchs

Patriarch Alexei likens the death penalty to premeditated murder:

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/jim_forest/webdoc5.htm

Patriarch of Georgia condemns death penalty:

http://www.geplac.org/publicat/law/archives/glr99q1q2e.pdf , see also http://www.steele.com/fpphr/capital.html

Metropolitan Herman of the Orthodox Church in America issued statement condemning capital punishment, euthanasia and capital punishment in January 2005:

http://www.oca.org/news/724

Metropolitan Evangelos of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese applauded the State of New Jersey for being the first state to abolish the death penalty since its reinstatement in the 1970s:

Http://www.hellenicnews.com/readnews.html?newsid=7812%E2%8C%A9=US

Archbishop of Athens Christodoulos condemned capital punishment and calls for its abolition. See
http://www.bc.edu/research/cjl/meta-elements/texts/cjrelations/resources/articles/christodoulos.htm

Various Bishops condemn capital punishment

Archbishop of Ottawa and Canada (OCA) condemns capital punishment.

http://www.orthodoxresearchinstitute.org/articles/ethics/seraphim_capital_punishment.htm

Bishop Demitrios (GOA) condemns capital punishment.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-0612080312dec08,0,7764178.story

Other Orthodox condemnations of capital punishment

Pan-Orthodox Sanctity of Life Prayer Service at St. George Antiochian Church condemns capital punishment, euthanasia, and abortion. See http://www.romarch.org/news.php?id=1540 . In attendance were His Eminence Metropolitan Iakovos from the Greek Metropolis of Chicago, His Eminence Archbishop Nicolae, and His Grace Bishop Demetrios of Mokissos.

– this list of links is a work in progress; the page editor is Danny Abbott.