freepik
Ho Chi Minh City (Agenzia Fides) - Vietnam has abolished the death penalty for eight crimes, including bribery, embezzlement, and activities to overthrow the government. As reported by the official Vietnam News Agency, the National Assembly has unanimously approved an amendment to the Penal Code that no longer provides for the death penalty for certain crimes. These include the destruction of state property, the production of counterfeit medicines, incitement to war, espionage, and drug smuggling. As of July, the maximum penalty for these crimes will be life imprisonment. Those sentenced to death for these crimes before July 1 will have their sentences commuted to life imprisonment. Catholics in Vietnam are praying and hoping, in accordance with Church teaching, that the death penalty will be definitively abolished in the country. A Catholic priest in Ho Chi Minh City tells Fides the "inhumanity of the death penalty." In an interview with Fides, Father Dominic Ngo Quang Tuyen, priest in Ho Chi Minh City and secretary of the Commission for Evangelization of the Vietnamese Bishops' Conference, says: "It is a step that gives hope: a society of solidarity offers prisoners the opportunity to return and live a dignified life. The Church teaches us that human life must be protected and respected because it is a gift from God, from birth to the end." He continues: "Every human being is created in the image of God. And people who have done wrong or committed a crime also deserve time to be rehabilitated and redeemed."
Andrew, a Vietnamese Catholic layman, told Fides: "The abolition of the death penalty can help create a more just society, where people are given the opportunity to make amends and reintegrate into society. Especially regarding the abolition of the crime of acting against the state, this is a great step forward by the socialist state government in Vietnam, which generally seeks to limit forms of protest against the Party and government policies. This is a good sign, demonstrating the growing progress of Vietnamese civil society."
The Vietnamese Church has an active prison ministry, focusing primarily on the spiritual accompaniment of prisoners, with the involvement of priests who, in addition to providing material and psychological assistance and spiritual support, also listen and encourage dialogue based on the Word of God. Some church organizations also address the needs of prisoners' families. Ten types of crimes (such as murder, treason, terrorism, and child sexual abuse) continue to be punishable by capital punishment in Vietnam. The number of prisoners on Vietnamese death row is unknown, as data on executions is considered a state secret. Since 2011, the death penalty in the Asian country has been carried out exclusively by lethal injection, whereas previously it was carried out by firing squad. (PA) (Agenzia Fides, 26/6/2025)