[ninenot]

I dunno. I can be Catholic and espouse the death penalty, for the right reasons, given a fair trial, etc.

I can also espouse the choice of killing someone if that someone is threatening to do grave bodily harm to my family, or to me.

[StAthanasiustheGreat]

There is a distinct difference between abortion and the death penalty. John Paul II himself, in Evangelium Vitae makes such a distinction. While John Paul II is against the death penalty, he aknowledges that at times it is the imperative of the state to use the death penalty for the security of the individuals of the state (a posistion first put forward by St. Augustine (or St. Paul)and further written about by St. Thomas Aquinas). Abortion is an issue of absolute faith and morals, it has been spoken of Ex Cathedra, the death penalty has not been used as such.