Russell Shaw & the Death Penalty
Dear Catholic Exchange:
Perhaps it was a poor choice of words, or I am misunderstanding his point, but I take issue with Russell Shaw [“Scalia and Church Teaching”] when he states that “refusal to cooperate with the death penalty would be – and is – required of those who understand that it is morally wrong.” By “understand” does Mr. Shaw mean “know,” or perhaps “believe”?
Certainly one who believes or knows something to be wrong must act according to his (hopefully well-formed) conscience. However, if by “understand” he means “know,” then here he seems to be stating that capital punishment is morally wrong, for one can only know something that is true. Yet one cannot “know” that capital punishment is wrong because it most certainly is not. True enough, this or that application of it may be wrong, but simply speaking, the death penalty is not per se evil.
The Catechism and Pope John Paul II recognize the legitimacy of the state to impose capital punishment. Nevertheless, they both argue on prudential grounds that it is wrong to resort to it in our current culture of death. This is an argument tied to time and circumstance rather than natural law principles. Moreover, if the Church and Holy Father were arguing to the inherent immorality of capital punishment, then they would be promoting immorality by admitting that it is permissible at times.
Lastly, Shaw confuses the issue even more by comparing Catholics refusing in conscience to cooperate with the death penalty to Catholics refusing to cooperate with abortion, euthanasia, direct sterilization, and contraception. Again, if a Catholic believed in the immorality of capital punishment, then he must refuse to participate. However, a Catholic could just as easily cooperate with the death penalty in good conscience because it is in principle legitimate. Catholics must always refuse to cooperate with abortion, euthanasia, direct sterilization, and contraception because these acts are always per se evil. They are attacks on innocent human life, while capital punishment is imposed on the guilty.
Regards,
Owen M. Sweeney
Vienna, Virginia
Courage is for Men with Chests
Dear Catholic Exchange:
I read your article about Frank Lindh and his fall to the temptation of homosexuality. [“Men Without Chests.”] I believe everyone has temptation in his or her life of all sorts. Resisting temptation requires prayer, a life in the sacraments and sometimes a support network.
There is a wonderful ministry approved by the Vatican called Courage. It is run by Father John Harvey. Essentially, it reaches out to people with homosexual inclinations and teaches them that those temptations are not sinful; however, acting out on them is sinful. They have their own website called www.couragerc.net. Their only problem is getting the word out because many “pro-gay rights” people say it is “anti-gay.” Furthermore, they do have a distinction within Courage. They never refer to someone as gay, rather as someone with “same sex attraction” tendencies. It is an enlightening website in terms of its ministry to these people who suffer with these temptations.
With best regards,
Bill
New York
Praise for CE’s Parish Portal Websites
Dear Catholic Exchange:
Thank you very much for creating for us such a beautiful website [www.stmarycatholicchurch-tampico.com]. I like it very much. We put our trust in God and you… that's why we have a great website. Thank you, Jesus! Thank you for all your hard professional work for us sinners in Tampico. IL.
May God bless you and keep you,
Fr. Anthony Pantyra
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