Sir, Why the Rev J.D. ArdaghWalter (February 8th) should contend that President Bush's support for the death penalty should detract in anyway from his pro-life standing is difficult to understand when the Church has recently beatified Pope Pius IX, a pope whose own public executioner carried out something in the order of 500 executions on behalf of the papal states.
The Church has always taught that no-one has the right to deliberately destroy an innocent human life, but the Church has also just has constantly taught that the state has the right to execute dangerous criminals. This right has been most recently reaffirmed by the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
Modem liberals may not like it, but unfortunately for modem liberals. like it or not, facts remain facts.
Yours faithfully, GRAHAM MOORHOUSE, [email protected]