I have the same hate and anger and lack of compassion for evil as many people because I am not a perfect Catholic and may never be.

But irrespective of how I feel I must conform to reason and knowledge. Abolition of the Death Penalty should not be seen as a “catholic thing” but a “fair and just society” thing. The objections I have are:

Christian Doctrine does not suggest but dictates that no man must kill. The commandment is just that; a COMMANDMENT, and is unqualified. There are no ifs, exceptions, or qualifying circumstance. Man's law cannot be put above God's Law.

ALL life has value (see the parable of the wheat and the darnel and the specific reference to not destroying the darnel). Just as a good man can become corrupt so can an evil man become good. All individuals without exception have the potential to do a unique act of greatness for their fellow man. Whether they achieve this depends on how they use their gifts and how others impact on them. Man cannot pass final judgement on another man for and on behalf of God.

The FACT is that innocent men have been condemned to death by the court. It is better that several guilty be speared death than the law kill one innocent person.

The act of hanging is nothing but a revenge act as it does not redress, undo, deter, heal or compensate. It also is a weak response to a problematic person. To get rid of people because it is too expensive or too much trouble to reform them is a greater sin than murder.

The condemned person is always seen as the perpetrator and not the victim. As our parish priest has said: the ones who kill should not be treated differently from the ones who bring in the guns and drugs, sell the guns and drugs, wilfully steal and deprive others and who commit other injustices including dehumanising treatment of others. If we hang them all we will have to be wary that one day the hangman may come calling at our door.

It is easy to love the loveable, but extremely difficult to love the ugly, cruel and the dirty. But we should not judge a person's entire being by their appearance or by one act in their life.

We have to insist that the laws be changed. Whether the Government or we as a society have the courage and fortitude to do so I am in great doubt since we do not have the courage to call abortion murder and confront ASPIRE for promoting the legalization of abortion.

Viable correction measures will require monetary, physical and human resources and sustained effort. We can get returns on our investment and utilise the human resources of the prisons to produce outputs that can benefit us all.

Spend $200Million on CEPEP instead of correctional facilities and we may never see the hidden sporting, cultural, technical and manpower resources locked away in our prisons as victims of our society.

Hollis M. Eversley, Gasparillo

Dear Editor, The article about St. Dominic's first principal published in the Catholic News of Sunday, July 17th was very interesting, but there were two claims in it which were puzzling.

The first was that in 1956 there was no secondary school in the Barataria/Malick area, and the second, that St. Dominic's was the first to be established.

The honour of being the first secondary school in the Barataria/Malick area belongs to St. George's College, which opened its doors to students in September 1953. The college recently completed year-long 50th anniversary celebrations and was the only secondary school in the area until St. Dominic's opened.

I hope the errors will be corrected so that the recorded history of St. Dominic's and secondary education in the Barataria/Malick area will be in accordance with the reality. Best wishes,

Gloria T. Valere, Point Cumana

Dear Editor, I returned home last weekend, and I'm happy to report that my surgeon has given me a clean bill of health, stating that I do not need any follow-on appointments. I am so happy and thank God for His wonderful healing.

I saw the publication in the June 26 issue of Ruth. Thank you for publishing the article. It is amazing the feedback that I got that many people were touched and acknowledged God's miraculous presence in my journey.

I am happy that I was able to share my experience and somehow offer confirmation and hope to many. I believe that you were like one of the angels along the way to get this message across. God bless you and all at the Catholic News .

Charmine Le Hunte