From Joseph Bottum at First Things:

They Did It

They did it, the blood-hungry fools. Last night, just after midnight out in Draper, Utah, they trussed up Ronnie Lee Gardner like a scarecrow, pinned a target on him, and pumped four .30-caliber bullets into his chest.

This execution was so unnecessary, and because it was unnecessary, it was simply and completely wrong. They shouldn’t have done it—because they didn’t have to do it.

Exactly. “They didn’t have to do it”. While the execution of criminals is not considered an intrinsic evil (always wrong no matter what the reason or outcome), it is only allowable under the provisions of the Just War Theory. This means that it is only morally permissible if executing a person is the only way to protect society.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states:

2267 Assuming that the guilty party’s identity and responsibility have been fully determined, the traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude recourse to the death penalty, if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor.

If, however, non-lethal means are sufficient to defend and protect people’s safety from the aggressor, authority will limit itself to such means, as these are more in keeping with the concrete conditions of the common good and more in conformity with the dignity of the human person.

Today, in fact, as a consequence of the possibilities which the state has for effectively preventing crime, by rendering one who has committed an offense incapable of doing harm – without definitely taking away from him the possibility of redeeming himself – the cases in which the execution of the offender is an absolute necessity “are very rare, if not practically non-existent.

There is no justification for the execution of Gardner. Period. Every Prolife Christian should be outraged.

Agnus Dei Mozart Requiem

The lyrics in English:

Lamb of God, who takes away
the sins of the world,
grant them eternal rest.
Lamb of God, who takes away
the sins of the world,
Grant them eternal rest.
Lamb of God, who takes away
the sins of the world,
grant them eternal rest forever.