On the acquittal in the retrial of Paul Iwao Hakamada A Statement by the President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Japan

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On the acquittal in the retrial of Paul Iwao Hakamada A Statement by the President of the Catholic Bishops’ Co […]

On the acquittal in the retrial of Paul Iwao Hakamada
A Statement by the President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Japan

Today, September 26, the Shizuoka District Court acquitted our brother in the Lord Jesus Christ Paul Iwao Hakamada. I welcome this good news and thank God that Mr. Hakamada, who has maintained his innocence for many years and faced the gross injustice of the death penalty, has finally been acquitted after more than half a century.

I want to express my deep respect for the anguish and suffering of Mr. Hakamada who continued to assert his innocence for many years, as well as for the solidarity and enthusiasm of his many supporters, including his family, who supported his appeal. We have learned from Mr. Hakamada’s long-standing plea of innocence the importance of protecting the truth and human rights. At the same time, we raise our voices from the standpoint of protecting human dignity in relation to the pros and cons of the death penalty that takes away life.

The Catholic Church believes that human life is given dignity by God’s creating humankind in the divine image and it must be respected from beginning to end without a single exception. In the light of the gospel revealed by Jesus Christ, we firmly believe that no matter how seriously a person may have sinned, his or her dignity will never be lost. Not only do we accept the commandment of the Lord Jesus that “you shalt not kill” and teach that the “the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person,” we also express our determination to work for the abolition of the death penalty throughout the world. (see Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2267; Pope Francis, Encyclical, Fratelli tutti, 263 ff.)

Oncea person’s life and dignity are taken away by the death penalty they cannot be recovered even if it turns out that the conviction was wrong. Taking the opportunity of the verdict of acquittal in the retrial of Mr. Hakamada, we once again call on Japanese society to reconsider the death penalty.

For Mr. Hakamada, who has been forced to suffer many years of restrictions on his human rights as a death row prisoner for a false conviction, we believe that our merciful God will extend a gentle hand to heal him, and we once again engrave on our hearts a determination to continue to raise our voice to protect human dignity.

Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi, President
Catholic Bishops' Conference of Japan
September 26, 2024

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