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To: TexanAmerican
My only concern is; doesn't the Catholic Church also oppose the Death Penalty?

Here is a quote from the Catechism of the Catholic Church,

CCC 2267. "The traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude, presupposing full ascertainment of the identity and responsibility of the offender, recourse to the death penalty, when this is the only practicable way to defend the lives of human beings effectively against the aggressor.

'If, instead, bloodless means are sufficient to defend against the aggressor and to protect the safety of persons, public authority should limit itself to such means, because they better correspond to the concrete conditions of the common good and are more in conformity to the dignity of the human person.

'Today, in fact, given the means at the State's disposal to effectively repress crime by rendering inoffensive the one who has committed it, without depriving him definitively of the possibility of redeeming himself, cases of absolute necessity for suppression of the offender 'today ... are very rare, if not practically non-existent.' [Cf. Gen 4:10 .]"

I have highlighted the parts of the teaching that are the most difficult to accept.
80 posted on 01/17/2003 12:40:49 PM PST by heyheyhey
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To: heyheyhey
Good point...I've bookmarked the link.
83 posted on 01/18/2003 8:23:16 PM PST by Coleus (RU 486 Kills Babies)
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