Boston bombing jury excludes some Catholics

G. Jeffrey MacDonald

BOSTON (RNS) As the quest for a jury in the Boston Marathon bombing trial approaches its fourth week, some of the area’s 2 million Roman Catholics are growing frustrated with criteria that effectively disqualify followers of church teachings.

Potential jurors in bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s trial must be able to impose the death penalty or a life sentence with no possibility of release. That standard eliminates Catholics who heed the catechism of the Catholic Church, which says a death sentence is not to be used when “non-lethal means are sufficient to defend and protect people’s safety from the aggressor.” Cases warranting the death penalty “are very rare, if not practically non-existent,” according to the catechism, because the government has other means to keep the public safe from convicts.

“It is both ironic and unfortunate that Catholics who understand and embrace this teaching will be systematically excluded from the trial,” says the Rev. James Bretzke, professor of moral theology at Boston College. “It is frustrating.”

http://www.religionnews.com/2015/01/26/boston-bombing-jury-excludes-catholics/