"2267 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 more in conformity to the dignity of the human person. Today, in fact, as a consequence of the possibilities which the state has for effectively preventing crime, by rendering one who has committed an offense incapable of doing harm - without definitely 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 nonexistent.""
68 John Paul II, Evangelium vitae 56. 69 Cf. Gen 4:10.
With all due respect to the Holy Father, this is his opinion.
I have struggled with this question as well and I think it would be great to live in a world where the Death Penalty does not exist. Unfortunately, because of the endless number of appeals for pure evil murdering monsters, all it takes is one wack liberal judge and the murderer will be let out to threaten society once again.
I propose doing away with the Death Penalty, only if, we can really put someone away for the rest of their life and throw away the key and not have to worry. Unfortunately, that will not happen in our litigious society.