A Topic of Moral Theology
The State's right to inflict death
From Scripture and reason; belongs to public authority alone
The works themselves ask 6 questions under this heading — see them together with their answers.
In the index as Capital Punishment · Killing · Punishment · State · Tyrant (Tyrannus) · Bloody Punishment · Defendant (Reus) · Direct and indirect killing of an innocent person · Homicide · Malefactor · *Ecclesia non sitit sanguinem* · *Ius gladii* · Accused Person · Anabaptists · Aristotle · Autocentric and heterocentric · Bloody · Catechism · Guards · Homicides (Homicidae) · Irregularity for clerics who co-operate in inflicting capital punishment · Killing a criminal · Killing of self · Life
In the manuals
Read the manuals side by side → — each work's whole treatment in its own column
Summa of Moral Theology (Summa Theologiae Moralis)
Vol. II, Part Second. On the Precep…, Book Fifth. On the Fifth P…, Question Third. On the Killing of a Criminal, nn. 330 & 331 (2 passages — hover a number to read it)
A Manual of Moral Theology for English-Speaking Countries
Vol. I, Bk. VI, Pt. V, Chapter II. Capital Punishment, nn. 1 & 2 (2 passages — hover a number to read it)
Compendium of Moral Theology of Fr. John Peter Gury, S.J., with the Notes of Antonio Ballerini, S.J.
Vol. I, Treatise On the Precepts o…, On the Fifth Precept of th…, Ch. II, Article I. On the Killing of a Guilty Person or Malefactor, nn. 392, 393 & 394 (10 passages — hover a number to read it)
Synopsis of Moral and Pastoral Theology
Vol. III, Contracts, and the Obligat…, On the Virtue of Justice (…, Part I — Chapter II: On Injury, or the Violation of Right, nn. 316, 317, 318, 319, 320, 321, 322, 323 & 324 (9 passages — hover a number to read it)
A Handbook of Moral Theology (Koch–Preuss)
Vol. V, Pt. I, Ch. IV, Section 4: Capital Punishment, nn. ¶3, ¶4, ¶5, ¶6, ¶7, ¶8, ¶9, ¶10, ¶11, ¶12 & ¶13 (11 passages — hover a number to read it)
Manuale Theologiae Moralis
Vol. II, Tr. XI, Sect. I, Q. III, Ch. III, Art. III, § 2, 1. On The Killing Of An Evildoer Or On Bloody Punishment, n. 118 — 118. Principle. Public authority, and it alone, has the right of killing those who have committed most grave crimes. Proof. The reason is that the death penalty is a necessary means for preserving the common good. For un… Read in context →
Institutiones Morales Alphonsianae
Vol. I, Pt. II, Sect. II, Tr. V, Ch. II, ARTICLE I: On the Killing of a Malefactor, nn. ¶1, ¶729, ¶730, ¶731 & ¶732 (5 passages — hover a number to read it)
Theologia Moralis Sancti Alphonsi: Reduced into a Compendium
Vol. I, TREATISE ON THE PRECEPTS O…, Ch. II, ARTICLE I: ON THE KILLING OF A GUILTY MAN OR MALEFACTOR, nn. ¶464, ¶465 & ¶466 (3 passages — hover a number to read it)
Summa Theologiae Moralis
Vol. II, Special Moral Theology: On…, Treatise: On the Cardinal …, Third Part: Concerning Com…, Section B: On Justice and …, Ch. I, Question Three: On the Killing of One's Neighbor, nn. 356, 357 & 358 (17 passages — hover a number to read it)
Compendium of Moral Theology
Vol. I, Tr. VI, On the Fifth Precept of th…, Ch. II, Article I. On the Killing of a Guilty Person or Malefactor, n. 265 — I say. Sometimes it is licit to kill malefactors by public authority, but never by private authority. The reason for the first is taken not only from the practice of any legislation and from the universal consent of all,… Read in context →
Palladium Theologicum, Tome V: On the Virtues
Tr. I, Disputation XXVI: On Homic…, Question XIII: Whether princes can grant license to kill outlaws, nn. 1, 2, 3 & 4 (4 passages — hover a number to read it)
Moral Philosophy: Ethics, Deontology and Natural Law
Pt. III, Ch. VIII, Section VIII. Of the Right of the sword, nn. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 & 8 (8 passages — hover a number to read it)
Treated under the broader heading Capital Punishment — Wouters, Manual of Moral Theology · Bucceroni, Institutions of Moral Theology · Merkelbach, Pastoral Questions · The Roman Catechism — these works do not divide the matter as finely as we do here, so their treatment stands one heading up (ed.)