This would be as a “courageous and exemplary act”, he said February 21.
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The pope’s remarks on Sunday came before an global conference against the death penalty, called “A World without the Death Penalty”, which starts Monday in Rome.
Pope Francis, who has repeatedly called for an end to the death penalty, on Sunday proposed that Catholic leaders suspend the practice for a year to mark the Holy Year of Mercy.
He asked Catholic leaders not to hold executions during the Year of Mercy.
In his weekly Angelus address in St. Peter’s Square Sunday, the pontiff said that the commandment “You shall not kill” has “absolute value and applies to both the innocent and the guilty”.
He also urged them not only to cancel the death penalty, but also to improve the conditions of the prisons. The conference will be organised by Sant’Egidio Community, a Catholic peace and justice group.
Pope Francis said he hopes that the gathering can strengthen efforts to abolish capital punishment.
The pope added that there was now “a growing opposition to the death penalty even for the legitimate defence of society” because modern means existed to “efficiently repress crime without definitively denying the person who committed it the possibility of rehabilitating themselves”. “Of course the pope is for the abolition of the death penalty”.
“The Golden Rule also reminds us of our responsibility to protect and defend human life at every stage of its development”, he told a joint meeting of Congress.
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Following the Angelus, Pope Francis gave each pilgrim the gift of a small box, created to look like a box of medicine, containing a small Rosary and an image of the Merciful Jesus. He has often visited prisons during his trips throughout Italy and overseas, including last week while in the border city of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
