I wrote: Me, too. Pro life is... being for life in all forms. Even the ugly ones we don't like. Because as soon as wee start saying "You're too damaged to live", it quickly follows that that same argument is applied to abortion.
From a practical point of view, that is true.
Also (willing to be corrected if I am incorrect), I cannot recall a death-penalty case that the Church was even neutral on when asked in decades.
I see what you mean, yes.
It’s very popular and trendy in the new ‘social justice’ AmChurch approach for bishops, especially together as a Conference, to come out opposing the death penalty as if it’s the moral high ground. They are not stating the official policy or doctrine of the Church, however. I wonder if it really is the moral high ground?
Let me propose, for another perspective, something I wish bishops might consider. In the USA, 40 percent of convicted murderers on death row (so we are talking about the most violent and non-reformable violent criminals of our society) killed their victims while on probation, parole or bail for another crime. 10 percent of convicted murderers on death row had previously committed murder! Now, if the 10 percent who were already murderers had received capital punishment for the first killing, hundreds of lives would have been saved, murders prevented.
So my thought is it’s possible the bishops (especially when they move this into the political arena instead of just explaining the religious aspects, or do not distinguish their own opinion from Church teaching) are not only interfering with what is the proper authority of the state based on the will of the electorate, but by in essence advocating release or lighter sentences for killers, they end up being culpable for many, many more lives being taken.