VATICAN CITY (CNS): Pope John Paul II has signed Vatican City State’s first new constitution in 72 years, abolishing on paper practices and traditions already ruled out by previous popes, including use of the death penalty.
The revised “basic law” confirms that the supreme pontiff is the sovereign of the Vatican state and governs it with full power. The law refers to the governance of Vatican territory, not the governance of the Roman Catholic Church.
Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said on January 26: “The new text updates the previous law, making a better distinction between legislative, executive and judicial powers.”
It also envisions a closer working relationship between the government of Vatican City State, headed by Cardinal Edmund C. Szoka, and the Vatican Secretariat of State, which is the office that maintains relations with other nations, he said.
“The new basic law does not make any mention of the death penalty,” he said.
