The Moral Issue of the Death Penalty

The death penalty, also known as capital punishment, is a legal process of punishment for crime. The Church views capital punishment as wrong and not necessary. It also believes that it is acceptable in only certain situations, which according to the pope is "when society has no other means of defending itself" (The Gospel of Life, number 56). Even though the death penalty is believed by many to be inhuman and wrong, the Bible seems to support it in Genesis 9:6: "Whosoever shall shed man's blood, his blood shall be shed; for man was made to the image of God." God gave the Israelites wh…