Catholicism and the Death Penalty By Peter West

     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.”

     Here are some extracts from the Catholic thinkers’ letter:
  https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2018/08/an-appeal-to-the-cardinals-of-the-catholic-church

“Pope Francis has revised the Catechism of the Catholic Church to read, “the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person.” This statement has been understood by many, both inside and outside the Church, to teach that capital punishment is intrinsically immoral and thus is always illicit, even in principle. Though no Catholic is obliged to support the use of the death penalty in practice (and not all of the undersigned do support its use), to teach that capital punishment is always and intrinsically evil would contradict Scripture. That the death penalty can be a legitimate means of securing retributive justice is affirmed in Genesis 9:6 and many other biblical texts, and the Church holds that Scripture cannot teach moral error. The legitimacy in principle of capital punishment is also the consistent teaching of the magisterium for two millennia. To contradict Scripture and tradition on this point would cast doubt on the credibility of the magisterium in general."

     I believe that the Catholic scholars have put a powerful case, but there is an opposing case as well. I am pretty much divided on this issue, so I believe that the present status quo should prevail, and that the Catechism should not be changed in this respect, because of the controversy. The Pope is really only acting for politically correct reasons, I conjecture, because of the large number of non-white facing the death penalty, and as well, to make a political attack upon President Trump.