Research for Capital Punishment in America

We believe the death penalty should be used if it is the only possible way of defending human lives against the unjust aggressor.
             If nonlethal means are sufficient to defend and protect the common good, we should use them. This is more in conformity with the dignity of the human person and in line with the good of the public.
             "We cannot teach that killing is wrong by killing." US Catholic Bishops.
             From:.
             http://www.cacp.org/pages/585205/index.htm.
             Abolition of capital punishment, the bishops said, would do the following:.
             * It would reaffirm the unique worth and dignity of each person from the moment of conception, as a creature made in the image and likeness of God.
             * It would underscore the conviction that God is the Lord of life, and would remove any ambiguity as to the Church's affirmation of the sanctity of human life in all its stages, including the unborn, the aged and the infirm.
             * It would be in accordance with the example of Jesus, who both taught and practiced forgiveness.
             * It would emphasize that the best means for promoting a just society are intelligence and compassion, not power and vengeance.(Click here for full text of US bishops' 1980 Statement on Capital Punishment).
             "It is time to abandon the death penalty -- not just because of what it does to those who are executed, but because of how it diminishes all of us. We ask all Catholics--pastors, catechists, educators and parishioners -- to join us in rethinking this difficult issue and committing ourselves to pursuing justice without vengeance. With our Holy Father, we seek to build a society so committed to human life that it will not sanction the killing of any human person.".
             From http://www.cacp.org/pages/585867/index.htm.
             5) LET`S END THE CYCLE OF DEATH, by Robert M. Vallee.
             (The Rev. Robert M. Vallee is chair of the Philosophy Department at the Archdiocese of Miami's St. John Vianney College Seminary in Miami, Fla. The above article originally appeared in the September 8, 2003 edition of the Miami Herald.