The Death Penalty Conundrum

In "changing?" the Church's teaching on capital punishment, Pope Francis has confused us: is this an inherent evil, not to be contemplated ever, or a prudential consideration, contingent on circumstances, intentions and consequences. Traditional Catholic teaching for milennia: the state has the responsibility to use deadly force when necessary to protect the innocent and the common good when necessary...as in police action, just war and capital punishment. Killing is not inherently evil: murder of the innocent is always evil, but lethal force against an aggressor is sometimes required and actually a virtuous action. Both John Paul and Benedict argued on pragmatic grounds that capital punishment was no longer necessary, almost all the time, because our prison system is adequate protection. But they maintained the traditional logic by implicitly acknowledging that if it is necessary, it may and must be used. So it is not inherently evil. The new wording Pope Francis put into our Catechism must be the most confusing statement in Church history. It includes three statements: 1. Capital punishment is inadmissable because it is an assault on the dignity and inviolability of the human person. 2. It is inadmissable because of a change in the understanding of punishment. 3. That it is inadmissable because our prisons are adequate protection for society. He is saying three contradictiory things here. First, that it is inherently an assault on human dignity and therefore always wrong. Second there was a change in understanding so it was right 25 years ago but is not right now. Third, that a good prison system eliminates the death penalty, but that implies that a bad prison system brings back the need for it. The statement is stunning in its vacuity, illogic and vagueness. Submitted in a college ethics course this would merit a F for failure. If the first statement about "assault on dignity" holds than any such letal force is evil: the assasination of Osama Ben Laden? Every use of lethal force by police? Have we become then an absolutely pacifist Church? Then no Catholic could serve in the military or police as currently constituted. This is ridiculous on the face of it. If the second holds, there has been a change in the understanding of the nature and goals of punishment. OK, than: What is this change? How were we mistaken in the past? What is the new revelaton or enlightenment? This would require an entire encyclical and more. It would be an immense work requiring theological and episcopal consultation. No explanation is given: it is simply stated as a given. The lack of intelligence, the arbitrariness, the subjective emotiveness...is breathtaking from a Catholic pope. Finally, the reliance on an efficacious prison system advances a contingent argument and logically undercuts the apparent assertion of implicit evil. It opens the door to another change if prison systems weaken. This exaggerated trust in contemporary prisons was shared by John Paul and Benedict both and may be the single weakness in their otherwise splendid corpus. My understanding of prisons in the USA and elsewhere is that there is rampant violence including murder and rape and widespread gang activity. I suspect that in many countries the situation is worse. To change a milennia-old moral teaching because our prisons are great is simply crazy. The prison situation concerns the issue of protection of society which is one of four aims of punishment. The others: deterrence, rehabilitation, and retribution. Each of these would require extensive treatment. But we return to the three Catechism statements and the question: is capital punishment inherently evil or a contingent, prudential judgment? The statement should be read in continuity with prior tradition which leads to this conclusion: it remains a prudential decision to be determined by a universe of concrete considerations. John Paul and Benedict both seemed to be 97% confident it was unnecessary. Francis goes to an absolute 100%. I myself oppose the death penalty with about 72% certainty. But I allow that more intelligent, better-intended Catholics than myself may reach different conclusions. Attorney General Bill Barr reinstated the death penalty just a few years ago: this does not make him a bad Catholic. Bishops will not be thinking about denying him communion. Death penalty is NOT "against Church teaching" in the way that abortion is. On this, some humility and open-mindedness on the part of our Holy Father is needed.