Pope John Paul II has condemned US President George W. Bush today for his support for the death penalty.
"A free and virtuous society, which America aspires to be, must reject practices that devalue and violate human life at any stage from conception until natural death," the Pontiff told the president, who was visiting Rome.
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"In defending the right to life, in law and through a vibrant culture of life, America can show the world the path to a truly humane future," he said.
President Bush supports capital punishment, and he backed the June execution of convicted Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh - the first federal use of the death penalty in 38 years.
The United States was the fifth-largest user of capital punishment in 2000, carrying out 85 executions, the non-profit group Hands off Cain - a Rome-based league of citizens and MPs for the abolition of the death penalty worldwide - said in late June.
AFP