OPINION:
I read with interest comments by Pope Leo XIV in The Washington Times article “Pope intervenes in U.S. abortion debate by raising what it really means to be pro-life” (Web, Oct. 1). In the piece, the pope says that being in favor of the death penalty “is not really pro-life.”
I would disagree. I consider the favoring of the death penalty a very pro-life position. Willfully, wantonly and with malice extinguishing the life of an innocent human being, a life given by our Creator, is such an egregious offense against life itself that the guilty perpetrator should be required to forfeit their own life.
In simple terms, the death penalty establishes the value that a society places on human life. Without the death penalty, murder compares to grand larceny and other civil crimes.
DANIEL P. MCKIM
Springfield, Virginia
Please read our comment policy before commenting.