>
>http://www.usatoday.com/news/washdc/2002/02/04/scalia.htm
>USAToday 02/04/2002
>
>Scalia questions Catholic stance on death penalty
>
>WASHINGTON (AP) Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia on Monday criticized
>his church's position against the death penalty, saying that Catholic
>judges who believe capital punishment is wrong should resign.
>
>The devout Roman Catholic said after giving it "serious thought" he could
>not agree with the church's stand on the issue.
>
>Scalia questioned the church's opposition to the death penalty late last
>month at a conference on the subject in Chicago. He was asked about it
>again Monday at Georgetown University, a Catholic school.
>
>The Vatican under Pope John Paul II has been strongly anti-death penalty,
>and the pope has personally appealed to leaders to commute death
>sentences. In 1999, he said capital punishment, abortion, euthanasia and
>assisted suicide are part of a "culture of death."
>
>Scalia told Georgetown students that the church has a much longer history
>of endorsing capital punishment.
>
>"No authority that I know of denies the 2,000-year-old tradition of the
>church approving capital punishment," he said. "I don't see why there's
>been a change."
>
>Scalia, a father of nine, including one priest, attended Georgetown as an
>undergraduate and later taught there as a visiting professor. He talked
>about the cultural move away from faith before answering questions from
>students.
>
>In Chicago on Jan. 25, Scalia said, "In my view, the choice for the judge
>who believes the death penalty to be immoral is resignation rather than
>simply ignoring duly enacted constitutional laws and sabotaging the death
>penalty." His remarks were transcribed by the event sponsor, the Pew
>Forum.
>
>Scalia said Monday that "any Catholic jurist (with such concerns) ...
>would have to resign."
>
>"You couldn't function as a judge," he said.
>
>Some in the crowd applauded when a female student asked Scalia to
>reconcile his religious beliefs with his capital punishment votes on the
>court. Scalia, 65, is one of the court's most conservative members and has
>consistently upheld capital cases.
>
>Freshman Sean Kiernan said later that he was disappointed that Scalia
>talked about the importance of his religion, then took a stand
>contradicting the church. "I don't think it's correct," he said.
>
>"He's got a lot of courage and conviction," said Stephen Feiler, the
>student who organized the event to celebrate Jesuit heritage.
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