Can you be a Catholic and support the death penalty?
From the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 2267 (http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/para/2267.htm)
Assuming that the guilty party’s identity and responsibility have been fully determined, the traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude recourse to the death penalty, if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor.
If, however, non-lethal means are sufficient to defend and protect people’s safety from the aggressor, authority will limit itself to such means, as these are more in keeping with the concrete conditions of the common good and are more in conformity to the dignity of the human person.
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 definitely 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 non-existent.”
Short answer is, yes, Catholics can support the death penalty.
Yes, as a Catholic you can support the death penalty.
Yes. You can also be a Catholic and support or even participate in a "just" war.
Abortion is always wrong because abortion is always the destruction of innocent life.
Bernardine and his "seamless-garment" crowd always gloss over that little word.
Crystal Cove State Park is lovely, BTW. I love hiking in El Moro Canyon.
Yes,
There is a complete difference between guilt and innocence. Vatican criticism of the death penalty is never based upon death as a valid or moral punishment. Criticisms levied against the US by the Vatican on the death penalty are levied regarding its application and discrimination.