An American Cardinal opposes abortion and executions
The Roman Catholic Church has traditionally seen no contradiction in its opposition to abortion and its teaching that capital punishment can be morally licit. But Catholic criticism of the death penalty is growing stronger, even as the church remains steadfast in its belief that abortion is equivalent to murder.
At New York City's Fordham University last week, Joseph Cardinal Bernardin of Chicago, perhaps the most influential U.S. archbishop, defended the linking of opposition to both abortion and capital punishment by arguing that these "prolife" policies constitute a...