Pro-abortion, the Death Penalty, and Communion

[Louie]

The hot-button issue of whether or not pro-abortion Catholic politicians should be allowed to receive communion brings up some questions:
What is the rule regarding those politicians who favor the death penalty? Are they able to receive communion? Is this a contradiction in terms?
I understand the issue of an innocent soul (or fetus) and its right to life. Is the issue such that the death penalty is justified because of the crime? Where specifically in the Bible or in Catholic doctrine is this addressed?
Thank you for addressing my questions. And thank you for these boards!
Steve D’Anna

 

[Jim_Blackburn]

Unlike abortion, the death penalty is not always wrong. As such, it may be OK for a politician to support the death penalty (if supported for the right reasons). The Catechism of the Catholic Church (paragraph 2267) explains:

“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 definitively 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.”