Ghana, Bishops’ Conference supports bill to abolish death penalty

By Cristiano Antonino On Nov 7, 2022

In Ghana an explicit stance of the bishops, who in a statement issued by the Bishops’ Conference openly support the two proposed laws to abolish the death penalty

Ghana, Bishops: “God created the human person in his own image and likeness”

“God created the human person in His own image and likeness and therefore only He can take back human life. It is therefore an obligation of every possessor of life to endeavour at all times to preserve the sanctity of human life,” says the Ghana Bishops’ Conference in a statement of support for the two bills to abolish the death penalty.

The bishops call on Ghanaians to “work with determination to abolish the death penalty from our legal system”.

In the document, the African country’s bishops point out that among the reasons why the death penalty is unacceptable is that it ‘does not give the condemned person the opportunity to repent and ask for forgiveness.

Moreover, there are cases where innocent people are put to death because of a miscarriage of justice.

“It is for this reason that the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Ghana is presenting this Memorandum in support of the two bills submitted to the Parliament of Ghana to end the death penalty in our statutes.”