I have written previously about how the Pope’s present rejection of the death penalty should be acceptable to many, who are otherwise critical of his stance on immigration. But, the death penalty issue is controversial and there has been debates about the morality and theology of this for hundreds of years, with the best Christian minds being divided. It is foolish to deny this, as one Christian I spoke to did (there is no Christian case for the death penalty he said, and it just shows your prejudice!). This controversy continues to the present day:
https://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2018/08/16/catholic-scholars-call-on-cardinals-to-correct-pope-francis-on-death-penalty/
“A group of 75 Catholic scholars have written an open letter to the cardinals of the Church asking them to intervene to put an end to the “scandal” of Pope Francis’ recent teaching against the death penalty. On August 2, the Vatican press office announced that Pope Francis had amended the Catechism of the Catholic Church regarding capital punishment, declaring it “inadmissible” and saying the Church “works with determination for its abolition worldwide.” In their letter published on August 15 in the journal First Things, the scholars—who include professors of philosophy, theology, law, and history from Catholic institutions around the world—state that God’s Word and the universal magisterium of the Catholic Church have always taught that “criminals may lawfully be put to death by the civil power when this is necessary to preserve just order in civil society.”