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22 Ways to Respond to Common Abortion Questions
ANGELO STAGNARO
Here are a few key points to remember the next time you find yourself in a discussion about abortion:

Opposition to the Death Penalty
RALPH MCINERNY
When I gingerly introduced the subject of Hell, those who had spontaneously rejected capital punishment and then had some second thoughts about life imprisonment when looked at in itself and not as an alternative to the death penalty seemed inclined toward a creative interpretation of eternal punishment.

Is the Death Penalty Wrong?
FR. WILLIAM SAUNDERS
A few weeks ago you wrote about the "pro-choice argument" and how human life is sacred. Yet, I discovered that the Catechism permits capital punishment. That seems to be a contradiction. What do you think?

Catholicism and Capital Punishment
AVERY CARDINAL DULLES
After providing a survey of the complex question of capital punishment Cardinal Dulles writes that: "The Pope and the bishops, using their prudential judgment, have concluded that in contemporary society, at least in countries like our own, the death penalty ought not to be invoked, because, on balance, it does more harm than good."

Crime and Punishment
JAMES HITCHCOCK
In the nineteenth century the therapeutic approach to crime was an aspect of genuine moral progress, forcing society to be more compassionate because it was more aware of the realities of criminal behavior, distinguishing for example between a brutal thug and a starving young mother. But this compassionate effort at understanding has become debased to the point where it is nothing less than a denial of human freedom and moral responsibility.

Capital Punishment (Part 2)
FR. WILLIAM SAUNDERS
Last week Straight Answers explicated the traditional teaching of the Church which upholds the right of the state to execute certain criminals. Now, we must address the application of the this teaching in our present society.

Capital Punishment (Part 1)
FR. WILLIAM SAUNDERS
This past June, a jury found Timothy McVeigh guilty of the Oklahoma City bombing and he was then sentenced to death. Since then, I have read or heard many pro and con statements about capital punishment at church or in Church newspapers. Yet, the Catechism allows capital punishment. Please explain.

U.S. Bishops Approve the Pope's Capital Punishment Ban
FATHER GEORGE W. RUTLER
There have even been bishops so impatient with the subtleties that make theology logical that they have turned two thousand years of Christianity upside down by announcing that the death penalty is absolutely immoral.

Capital Punishment and the Just Society
FATHER THOMAS D. WILLIAMS, LC
Few issues today arouse such moral passion as capital punishment.

Capital Punishment
RALPH MCINERNY
If Martha Stewart had poisoned her husband or drowned her children, she would have received more sympathy.

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