Death Penalty: Catholic Ignorance, Again and Again and Again
To: Board of Directors, Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops, Biblical & Theological Scholars, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, The Tablet, First Things, National Catholic Reporter, America, Our Sunday Visitor, American Society of Religion, Oxford Academic, Catholic Media Association (Board of Directors), Jesuits-Global, Vatican News, Crux, Catholic News Service (Rome), Global Sisters Report, Crisis Magazine, EWTN, The Catholic Herald (UK), Catholic Digest, Congregation of St. Joseph, Today's Catholic, U.S. Catholic, The Irish Catholic, The Catholic Network, Knights of Columbus, Catholic Mobilization Network, many more, at bottom
and
Governor Ron DeSantis and staff
Florida House and Senate and staff
Attorney General James Uthmeier and staff
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Florida Law Enforcement
Media Throughout Florida
Subject: Death Penalty: Catholic (Fr. Felix Just, S.J.) Willful Ignorance, Again
& Again & Again, Fr. Felix's reply to my
"Rebuttal: Florida Bishops Novena To End Death Penalty" (at bottom)
Re: my rebuttals to the emails of Fr. Felix Just, S.J.
From: Dudley Sharp, independent researcher, death penalty expert, former opponent, 832-439-2113, CV at the very bottom
======
Method: I reply to Fr. Felix, as Sharp within his second email and, then, after
his first email.
2nd email, first
Rev. Felix Just, S.J.
From: frfjust@la-archdiocese.org
To: Dudley Sharp
Tue, Aug 12 at 11:42 PM
Sharp: I start with Fr. Felix's PS, because it explains how he got everything wrong.
In Fr. Felix's PS he writes – I have indeed read much of your material, but
simply don’t have the time to refute your biblical mis interpretations in detail,
point by point,
1) Sharp: Fr. Felix's description indicates he read or understood nothing.
The biblical and theological points are not mine but those of the Doctors and Fathers of the Church, Popes and Saints, Church leadership, biblical scholars and theologians (the "Experts" in fn1), as detailed, which you would have recognized,
immediately, had you read a tiny amount of what I presented, which means you cannot refute what you haven't read and it appears you read nothing.
I present the factual, rational and contradictory anti-death penalty errors, by the Church, since 1995 (2,3). as do the Experts, as presented and which you cannot refute.
Will Fr. Felix refute the Experts and my facts? No.
Dear Mr. Sharp,
The example you cite from Acts 5 clearly indicates that Ananias and Sapphira died through the action of God (or the Holy Spirit); they were not put to death by Peter or the Christian community or any human being or authority.
2) Sharp: Precisely. The Godly example was that it was just and right for the Holy Ghost to kill two Christians for lying and, likely, pride. Christians must accept that and there was an audience for those killings to observe and understand. It is a lesson.
"Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord." That killing, as many others, was God's vengeance, which is holy. Was it merciful and just? Of course, as St. Aquinas, as
others, found just executions, by humans, or by God, prevents the sinner from sinning more and the blessing of expiation may be present, both offering the blessing of eternal salvation (4), the holiest of mercies.
So many other teachings of Jesus clearly tell us to let GOD judge people, while we should not judge or condemn others (see Matt 7), lest we ourselves be judged/condemned, since ALL of us are sinners deserving God’s punishment (but granted God’s mercy)!
3) Sharp: Jesus' many other teachings do not contradict Jesus' many other teachings (1). They all work, in concert, together (1). Fr, Felix's is a a common misconception. To correct - We all must make judgements or no one would become a Christian, which is a judgement that one makes. The meaning is that when we judge others that it should be in a Christian manner, for that is the way we will be judged and we must,
properly, judge ourselves, as well. It is not that we should never judge (6). By reason, those who make no judgements are, forever, lost (6).
And surely by citing Matt 15:4, you are not advocating that we apply the death penalty today to any/all children who “speak evil” of their own parents, are you? I hope not!
4) Sharp: I do not. But God/Jesus does, which is not just today, but forever. Honoring ones father and mother is within the Ten Commandments, so to reverse that is a grave sin and contrary to God's law. I think that the most important, within Christianity. And you? If you lived in a Christian theocracy, would you follow all Jesus' commands or just the ones you like? Thoroughly reviewed, by Experts (7).
Moreover, the Greek text of 15:4 (lit. “let him end in death”) does NOT imply
that any humans should execute that disobedient child (contrary to the practice of
Deut 21:18-21).
5) Sharp: Nor is death by execution excluded, nor can it be. Other than the Greek, also, included, here are 39 additional commentaries on that bible text (7). We all know God's law that we all die because of our sins, with no type of death excluded. There was no need to reiterate that with disobedient children, unless to emphasize it, as Jesus did, as detailed in 4) Sharp (7).
What you are doing is blatant EIS-EGESIS, not responsible biblical
interpretation: Since you are clearly in favor of the death penalty, you search
for biblical passages to use (taking them out of context, or misinterpreting
them in other ways) to back up your opinion, rather than looking at the
WHOLE of Scripture, where Jesus clearly teaches us NOT to resort to such
violence against any other people, even those we consider sinners.
6) Sharp: Fr. Felix is, only, giving examples of what he has, wrongly, stated, not I. As detailed in 1) Sharp (1). With zero proof, Fr. Felix assumed the opposite of what I was doing and how I did it, which is either his intentional ignorance or deception.
I started out anti-death penalty and switched positions after two years of fact checking and vetting the debate, factually, legally, philosophically and biblically, as presented, prior, which, it appears, Fr. Felix did not read - willful ignorance.
Yes, all of scripture (including the teachings of Jesus) tells us THAT there will be a judgement day, when the righteous are rewarded and sinners punished. But that final judgement is up to GOD, not up to us.
7) Sharp: Precisely, the "final" judgement. No freshman Christian believes that any or all human deaths are the final judgment, that which is before God, after our earthly deaths, whenever and whatever that death may be. Fr. Felix tells us that he is unaware.
The death penalty (as practiced by human societies) is clearly against the will of God and the teachings of Jesus, no matter how many scriptural passages you misinterpret and misuse to argue the contrary.
8) Sharp: It is "so clearly against the will of God" that the greatest of Catholic Experts could not see it for 2000 years. Fr. Felix has, convincingly, shown his intentional lack of knowledge, throughout, and he gets no better.
I pray for a softening of your heart and the conversion of your mind, so that you may follow the teachings of Jesus Christ!
Fr. Felix
9) Sharp: As I and/or the Experts detailed, point by point, factually and rationally, as well as with over 2000 years of Catholic teachings, by the Experts, through today, Christianity was and is supportive of the death penalty, with the 30 years (1995-2025) of anti-death penalty Church teachings a disaster (1,2,3).
(Fr. Felix's ) PS – I have indeed read much of your material, but simply don’t have the time to refute your biblical mis interpretations in detail, point by point.
Sharp: Responded in 1) Sharp, above.
==========================
First email from Fr. Felix. I respond after his email, just below
Monday, August 11, 2025 at 08:02:59 PM CDT, Fr, Felix Just, S.J. wrote to Dudley Sharp
(Fr. Felix asks) Are you a Christian? If so, please read and take to heart Matthew 5:38-48. Its application to the Church’s teaching about immorality of
the Death Penalty should be obvious.
If not, then please don’t waste your time emailing people who are supposed
to listen to the teachings of JESUS, rather than modern people who disagree
with our Lord!
Sincerely, Fr. Felix Just, S.J.
Sharp's reply to Fr. Felix's first email is FN 5
Footnotes
fn 1) A full review by the Experts
Religion and the Death Penalty
fn 2) Pope John Paul II: His death penalty errors
and
Catechism & State Protection: The Gross Negligence of the Holy See
and
The Catholic Church & The Death Penalty
13 (15) Factual Errors: 2018 CCC 2267 amendment
and
Catechism & The Death Penalty Problems: Section 2267:
A Rational Deconstruction of Catholic Revisionism, 1995-2019
fn 3) The Church uses secular, anti-death penalty material without fact checking, vetting or critical thinking and avoids all pro-death penalty material and experts, both which has resulted in decades old errors by the Church, with no sign of correction. Again, this is not in dispute, as detailed, with sources:
Research, w/sources, w/fact checking/vetting & critical thinking, as required of everyone in a public policy debate and which rebut all anti-death penalty claims.
The media/academic norm is to use anti-death penalty material, refuse to fact check or vet it and avoid all pro-death penalty research and experts. How will you know that is true? You haven't seen this material, prior.
a) The Death Penalty: Justice & Saving More Innocents
b) Students, Academics & Journalists: Death Penalty Research
7 pro-death penalty experts included
c) 600+ pro death penalty quotes from murder victim's families &
3300+ from some of the greatest thinkers in history
4) The Death Penalty: Mercy, Expiation, Redemption & Salvation
FN 5) which is Sharp's reply to Fr. Felix's first email
Dear Father:
I had Jesus' words, throughout (fn 1), in support of the death penalty, as you received and failed to read. Matthew 5 was covered, as herein.
Willful ignorance is why I felt the need to put all of that material together, in order to counter ignorance. You would not consider it, again, and likely again and again . . . the ignorance I was trying to counter.
You are unaware that your Matthew text is dealing with personal disputes/choices and their personal resolutions, as opposed to civil governments and their uses of law, law enforcement and sanction, as I had detailed for you, prior, with your willful ignorance triumphant.
Here are some 15 commentaries. Please read them:
There is a reason why 2000 years of the greatest Doctors and Fathers of the Church, Popes and Saints, Church leadership, biblical scholars and theologians (added later as "Experts") found biblical support for the death penalty and why many still do and why they did not and do not read that text the way that you and others have, as I detailed and, it appears, you did not read.
Read all of Matthew 5:1-48. Start here, reading the footnotes, the referenced biblical texts, then move on to the commentaries, please:
Matthew, CHAPTER 5
My explanation is a very clear reading of the text and is supported by nearly 2000 years of Church teachings (added later as "Experts"), by the most respected of commentaries (added later as "Experts"), rebutted by none, that I am aware of.
One of the first acts of the Holy Ghost was to kill Ananias and his wife Sapphira, two early Christians. No trial, no appeals, just killed, on the spot, by the Holy Ghost. Why? For lying and, most likely, pride, as well, and. importantly, it was an example, for all others, as within that Christian gathering, where all could see, with the Holy Ghost, therein, going beyond torah, adding additional death penalty sins/crimes to those in the Mosaic Law, with this, just below, as succinct as it gets, with regard to Jesus and His death penalty support:
"It should not be overlooked, in seeking to discover “the mind of Jesus Christ” on the issue of murder and its punishments, that He goes beyond torah to the statement that even verbal abuse makes one deserving of “the hell of fire” (in Matthew 5)."
"Far from releasing believers from prior law, Jesus was a “hard liner” who made things even tougher, stating that He has come not “to abolish the law and the prophets . . . but to fulfill them.” (in Matthew 5), offering even stronger interpretations than in the original (Matthew 5:17-22)."
"Indeed, Jesus admonishes the Pharisees not to misuse torah for their own ends, but to honor God and torah."
"And of all the text in the Bible, which one does Jesus select to emphasize that crucial point? 'HE WHO SPEAKS EVIL OF FATHER OR MOTHER, LET HIM BE PUT TO DEATH' (Matthew 15:1-9)." Biblical scholar, Duke Divinity School, Professor Lloyd R. Bailey’s book Capital Punishment: What the Bible Says, Abingdon Press (see many other biblical writings by Bailey)
Added later: Here are 40 biblical Commentaries on the subject text (7), which will explain why Jesus meant what He said, as He, always, does.
Blessings to you and all of yours.
May God's grace be with you, forever, Dudley
=======
Extras
Another Christian Anti-death Penalty Disaster
=========
Footnotes Contd.
6) These commentaries explain that in detail. Read them.
and
here is a solid Catholic commentator
Haydock's Matthew 7
7) Here are 40 biblical Commentaries on the subject text, which will
explain why Jesus meant what He said, as He, always, does
======
Extra
The Jesuit's decided to keep this wildly inaccurate nonsense on their site, for 4 1/2 years. That says a lot about today's Church.
Full Rebuttal: The Jesuits & Shannon Evans' John 8 -
"How Jesus’ Position on the Death Penalty Informs Mine"
======================================================================================================================
"Rebuttal: Florida Bishops Novena To End Death Penalty"
To: Board of Directors, Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops
bcc: Biblical & Theological Scholars, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, The Tablet, First Things, National Catholic Reporter, America, Our Sunday Visitor, American Society of Religion, Oxford Academic, Catholic Media Association (Board of Directors), Jesuits-Global, Vatican News, Crux, Catholic News Service (Rome), Global Sisters Report, Crisis Magazine, EWTN, The Catholic Herald (UK), Catholic Digest, Congregation of St. Joseph, Today's Catholic, U.S. Catholic, The Irish Catholic, The Catholic Network, Knights of Columbus, Catholic Mobilization Network, more at bottom
and
Governor Ron DeSantis and staff
Florida House and Senate and staff
Attorney General James Uthmeier and staff
Florida Prosecuting Attorneys Association
Florida Law Enforcement
Media Throughout Florida
Subject: Rebuttal: Florida Bishops Novena To End Death Penalty
From: Dudley Sharp, independent researcher, death penalty expert, former opponent, 832-439-2113, CV at bottom
Preface
1) For 30 years, 1995 and forward, The Church has refused to fact check, vet and use
critical thinking for the obvious factual and rational errors made by Pope John Paul II,
resulting in those easily found errors being placed into the amended 1997 CCC, making it
invalid. Those errors are not in dispute, as detailed, with sources:
a) Pope John Paul II: His death penalty errors, uncorrected since 1995
b) Read footnote 4, first, then read the rest
Catechism & State Protection
======
2) The factual and rational errors from the1997/2018 amended CCCs are
rebutted by me and others. The biblical and theological errors are rebutted
by those experts, as detailed, with sources:
a) The Catholic Church & The Death Penalty
13 (15) Factual Errors: 2018 CCC 2267 amendment
The Catholic Church & The Death Penalty: 13 (15) Factual Errors: 2018 CCC 2267 amendment
b) Catechism & The Death Penalty Problems: Section 2267:
A Rational Deconstruction of Catholic Revisionism, 1995-2019
3) The Church uses secular, anti-death penalty material without fact checking, vetting or critical thinking and avoids all pro-death penalty material and experts, both which has resulted in decades old errors by the Church, with no sign of correction.. Again, this is not in dispute, as detailed, with sources:
Research, w/sources, w/fact checking/vetting & critical thinking, as required
of everyone in a public policy debate and which rebut all anti-death penalty
claims.
The media/academic norm is to use anti-death penalty material, refuse to fact check or vet it and avoid all pro-death penalty research and experts. How will you know that is true? You
haven't seen this material, prior.
a) The Death Penalty: Justice & Saving More Innocents
b) Students, Academics & Journalists: Death Penalty Research
7 pro-death penalty experts included
c) 600+ pro death penalty quotes from murder victim's families &
3300+ from some of the greatest thinkers in history
In Closing
Will the Florida Bishops or the Church care? They seem to have cared, very
much, to avoid fact checking and vetting, as they have done for 30 years. The
lack of fact checking and vetting must be intentional. Will that change?
======
Partial CV
Partial CV -- Dudley Sharp, independent researcher
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