Following is the second in a five-part series highlighting issues that will impact the fall elections in Virginia.

Because each person is created in God’s image and likeness, human dignity belongs equally to each person, including someone convicted of a heinous crime. While acknowledging the legitimate defense of individuals and society, the Church teaches that the death penalty cannot be justified when a government has other ways to adequately protect its people against an unjust aggressor. The Church also observes that, today, "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" (Catechism of the Catholic Church No. 2267).

Applying this teaching during his 1999 visit to the United States, the late Pope John Paul II told those who attended a Mass in St. Louis: "The new evangelization calls for followers of Christ who are unconditionally pro-life — who will proclaim, celebrate and serve the Gospel of Life in every situation. A sign of hope is the increasing recognition that the dignity of human life must never be taken away, even in the case of someone who has done great evil. Modern society has the means of protecting itself, without definitively denying criminals the chance to reform. I renew the appeal ... for a consensus to end the death penalty, which is both cruel and unnecessary."

Like John Paul II, the U.S. bishops have called for an end to capital punishment in our country. Earlier this year, they amplified their long-held conviction that executions are unnecessary, and hence inappropriate, in our time and place by launching the new "Catholic Campaign to End the Use of the Death Penalty," designed to provide parishes additional resources as they too strive to "proclaim, celebrate and serve the Gospel of Life in every situation."

Virginia’s two Catholic bishops also addressed the death penalty issue recently when they asked Gov. Mark Warner to commute the death sentence of Robin Lovitt to life in prison. In their letter to the governor earlier this year, Bishops Paul S. Loverde and Francis X. DiLorenzo called the commonwealth’s life-without-parole alternative to executions "unique in its ability to securely protect state residents and at the same time uphold the dignity belonging to every person."

Virginia’s death penalty is, they wrote, "the extreme and unnecessary measure of taking life to show that taking life is wrong." The two bishops also pledged continued diocesan assistance to murder victims’ families who endure "immense suffering" and expressed their hope for "healing that cannot come from more loss of life."

Among the 36 states that permit capital punishment, Virginia is second only to Texas in the number of executions (94) performed since 1976. Despite this alarming trend, lawmakers’ reactions are mixed. Some believe that executions are no longer needed, others favor keeping the death penalty but wish to reduce the possibility of errors in death penalty cases, while still others even call for the further expansion of capital punishment. Widely varying measures being considered by Virginia lawmakers and candidates include: