The specific issue at issue in this essay is the moral status of capital punishment. Taking as a starting point the teachings of the largest Christian denomination (Catholic), some say that the presentation of capital punishment in the 1992 Catechism (#2266) surely differs in its restrictiveness from the teaching of the 1566 Catechism. And that the revised version The Catechism of 1997 is even more restrictive. Let us examine these other aspects of the morality of capital punishment. The Catechism (1997) #2267 says, in part, "...the traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude the use of the death penalty, if that is the only possible one." means of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor....""Today, in fact, thanks to the possibilities available to the State to effectively prevent crime, by rendering those who have committed a crime incapable of causing harm .. “cases in which the execution of the offender is an absolute necessity are very rare, if not practically non-existent” (CEC #2267). Thus, the classic elements of conventional Catholic teaching remain: 1) the Church does not deny the State the "right" to resort to the death penalty (i.e. it is not morally forbidden because it is intrinsically bad); but 2) official Church teachers clearly teach that this remedy is narrowly circumscribed, indeed so narrowly circumscribed as to be “virtually non-existent.” Ironically, capital punishment dates back to the beginning of Christianity. The Lord Jesus, the founder of Christianity, was himself a victim of capital punishment, as were most of the apostles and many of the early martyrs. Canonical scriptures were rarely invoked to question the capi...... middle of paper . ..... the unique dignity of each person, the truth that God is Lord of life and not us, and the example and teaching of Jesus on mercy and forgiveness. This debate will and must continue as the conditional premise makes it increasingly difficult to argue that capital punishment is truly a "necessity" in modern circumstances, much less an "absolute necessity" to effectively defend lives. human rights against the unjust aggressor. /www1/CDHN/ccc.htmlCity of Godhttp://www.ccel.org/fathers/NPNF1-02/New Catholic Encyclopedia v. 14 (1967), 779-781.Rotelle, J. ed. The Works of Augustine, Sermons III/1 (Brooklyn: New City Press, 1990) pp. 312-313; original in PL 38: 110-111.Summa Theologica.http://www.newadvent.org/summa/