From the Catechism:
"Assuming that the guilty party’s identity and responsibility have been fully determined, the traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude recourse to the death penalty, if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor.
If, however, non-lethal means are sufficient to defend and protect people’s safety from the aggressor, authority will limit itself to such means, as these are more in keeping with the concrete conditions of the common good and are more in conformity with the dignity of the human person.
Today, in fact, as a consequence of the possibilities that the state has for effectively preventing crime, by rendering one who has committed an offense incapable of doing harm—without definitively taking away from him the possibility of redeeming himself—the cases in which the execution of the offender is an absolute necessity "are very rare, if not practically non-existent" (Evangelium Vitae 56)."
Hmmm, thanks for the reminder, I guess.
I am a fallen away Catholic. I started to look at it again, back when the Pope was here. There are several things about the religion that has bothered me and you have reminded me of yet another. I am thinking more and more that there just isn’t a religion out there for me.
Anyway, thanks for your post.
I think the threat of escape or parole and murder again means there IS no other way to protect society except execution.
The conditions stated as a requirement for the death penalty are more common than the Catholic church would admit I think. Of course what do I know? I'm not Catholic.