Are abortion and capital punishment morally equivalent in the eyes of the Catholic Church?
Paragraph 2267 of the Church’s Catechism begins: The traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude, presupposing full ascertainment of the identity and responsibility of the offender, recourse to the death penalty, when this is the only practicable way to defend the lives of human beings effectively against the aggressor. Paragraph 2271 discusses abortion and says in pertinent part: Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law. . . Martin claims he’s “heard Pope Benedict, as well as Pope John Paul II talk about the death penalty, and they rank it just right up there with abortion.” Not according to Pope Benedict XVI. As Cardinal Ratzinger, he wrote: Not all moral issues have the same moral weight as abortion and euthanasia. For example, if a Catholic were to be at od
