Is Opposition to the Death Penalty an Infallible Teaching?

I'm glad the Department of Defense has decided not to livestream the execution by firing squad of mass murderer, Nidal Hasan. We don't need more folks addicted to violence drooling over the opportunity to watch someone die in real time. It makes me think of snuff films. A live execution enables the sick and voyeuristic to get their jollies. 

The Ten Commandments covers it all!

I was fascinated to come across Carl Sanburg's comparison to life as an onion. It's interesting from the perspective of self examination to continually ask the questions, "Who am I?" and "How does God see me?" The nearer I draw to Him, the more I will know myself.

I'm reading the section in the Catechism of the Council of Trent on the Ten Commandments. It pretty much encompasses and summarizes the entire law of God which Jesus further expounded on in His sermons. The fifth commandment, "Thou shalt not kill," rendered more accurately as "Thou shalt not murder." also forbids hatred and acts that injure others or oneself. As Jesus says:

Are You "In Full Communion with Rome?"

Kennedy Hall has an interesting article on this topic today which set me thinking about it. First of all, what does it mean to be in "full communion" with anyone? Here's the definition and origin of the word communion from etymonline:

Having Washed Off the Ashes, Now What?

Yesterday those who went to mass were told by the priest or deacon as he marked their foreheads with ashes, “for dust you are and unto dust you shall return.” (Genesis 3:19)  Anyone who is not Catholic might consider this a terrible pronouncement of the uselessness of this life.

Where Does The Church Stand on the Question of Capital Punishment? Tradition May Surprise You

Amy Barrett, Catholic nominee for Federal Court Judge

and Al Franken, Democrat Senator

Amy Coney Barrett, a widely published professor of law at the University of Notre Dame has been nominated by President Donald Trump for the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and was featured in an article published by the National Catholic Register on September 22.  A Senate hearing was held and several liberal Senators including Al Franken and Diane Feinstein gave her a brutal grilling.  The You Tube video of the Franken exchange is particularly disgusting.  

The Catholic Register article referred to an article Barrett wrote years ago as the subject of Feinstein’s questions, stating,    

“…it was Feinstein who mischaracterized the article’s conclusion, thus raising questions about Barrett’s fitness for the appellate bench.   Truth be told, the 1998 law review article in question, co-authored by Catholic constitutional scholar John Garvey, now the president of The Catholic University of America, reached a very different conclusion about the religious and professional responsibilities of Catholic jurists on the federal bench.  In their paper, Barrett and Garvey posed this question: Must judges who accept Church teaching on capital punishment recuse themselves in federal death-penalty cases? After exploring this question, the authors concluded that such cases were far from common, and when they did arise, Catholic judges should recuse themselves if necessary.” (My emphasis added.)