redemption. This point is not new. It was already contained in the previous version of 2267 of the Catechism, and it was a reason frequently used by Pope Saint John Paul II in his own efforts to reduce the application of the death penalty.

Returning to the structure of 2267, the reader finds that the three reasons of the second sub-paragraph are formally connected to a conclusion. This is evident from the opening of the third sub-paragraph: “Consequently, the Church teaches, in the light of the Gospel, that ‘the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person’ . . . .” The connection between sub-paragraphs two and three is crucial for understanding the final teaching on the inadmissibility of thesection 7 of the document, immediately following the sentence quoted above, concerning the conclusion of inadmissibility following (in part) upon the new understanding of penal sanctions applied by the modern state, the Congregation includes the following sentences.

Finally, given that modern society possesses more efficient detention systems, the death penalty becomes unnecessary as protection for the life of innocent people. Certainly, it remains the duty of public authorities to defend the life of citizens, as has always been taught by the Magisterium and is confirmed by the Catechism of the Catholic Church in numbers 2265 and 2266.

Paragraph 2265 still reads:

Legitimate defense can be not only a right but a grave duty for one who is responsible for the lives of others. The defense of the common good requires that