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Our Catholic moral teaching has always recognized the responsibility of government to protect citizens from persons who might be dangerous and harmful to others. This teaching has allowed the death penalty for particularly heinous crimes when the criminal is a continued threat to others. However, we must guard against a growing acceptance of revenge as a principle of justice. The alternative to the death penalty is life imprisonment without parole. The Gospel kingdom of peace and justice is built on a foundation of love that is capable of compassion and mercy. We must believe in the all-powerful redemptive love of God, which can change hearts, convert people, and renew all things. We must be a people committed to hope for those who seem to be hopeless. If we are pro-life, we cannot support the death penalty. All life needs to be upheld as sacred and gifted by God, from life in the womb to the life of a convicted criminal. We must affirm all life. We must believe in the sacredness and the dignity of every human life, even the lives of those who have committed terrible crimes. We must choose life. 
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