Where do you stand on the death penalty? That is certainly a difficult question. For many people, the demands of justice require that the person who kills should be killed. Does such a measure, however, insure justice? For some reason, the Old Testament saying of "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" is well remembered. Even people with little or no other acquaintance with the Bible remember that saying and feel that this should be the measure of how justice is administered. Why is it that people remember that Old Testament saying so well, and do not remember Jesus' words, "But I say to you, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you?"

Polls tell us that anywhere from 67% - 75% of Catholic people favor the death penalty. This, in spite of the fact that the Holy Father has frequently, especially in the last few years, spoken out against the death penalty. Just recently, he said, "The dignity of human life must never be taken away, even in the case of someone who has done great evil." The Catechism of the Catholic Church was changed after its first printing to read,
 

"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 definitively 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. '"

In a number of recent situations involving people who were about to be executed, the Holy Father has written clemency appeals. During his January trip to St. Louis, he appealed for Darrell Mease, a man who had committed three murders. The day after the Pope's visit, the Governor of Missouri, commuted the death sentence to life imprisonment.

How does it happen that Catholics who are so quick to quote the Holy Father when they are in agreement with what he says, so can freely ignore his comments when they do not agree with him? How contradictory it is for Catholics to loudly proclaim their respect for life and so blandly discuss their support for the death penalty. The Lord calls Christian people to a higher standard of conduct. The Lord expects us to live in this world as citizens of another world, as people who live by a different set of rules.

Since 1977, 510 men and women have been executed in the U.S. At least 34 of those who were executed were designated as retarded. African Americans comprise about 12% of the U. S. Population, but 36%of those executed were African Americans. Presently, there are 3,517 men and women under sentence of death, and 43% of those are African Americans. Do these statistics prove that Blacks commit more crimes than Whites, or is it evidence that our justice system does not provide the same opportunities for African Americans?

Just recently, a Chicago newspaper reported that there have been 11 reversals of death penalty sentences in the last 12 years in the State of Illinois, not only reversals, but freedom for those who had been "convicted." What does that statistic mean with regard to the death penalty? Are we so certain that justice is always done that we can take the life of someone who may very well be innocent? Do you think that everyone who has been put to death deserved death? Were there others besides these 11 who were not guilty? If so, that would indeed be a fatal mistake.

In 1997, four countries of the world were responsible for 84% of executions. They were China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United States. Strange bedfellows, huh? Do we have anything else in common with those other countries except for the death penalty?

We are always so certain that justice is always done. The facts, however, prove otherwise. Some people equate opposition to the death penalty with a lack of sympathy for the victims or with being "soft" on crime. Opposition to the death penalty does not mean one "approves" of the crime rather opposition says that life is so sacred that not even one who commits a serious crime should be deprived of it. All life issues belong in the hands of God for only God knows the human heart.