Bush, The Pope and The Death Penalty
This article from Reuters portraits President Bush and the late Pope John Paul's differing death penalty stances. I highly recommend reading it!
HOUSTON (Reuters) - President Bush was the first sitting U.S. president to attend a papal funeral and he praised Pope John Paul as an advocate of life, but the two leaders differed radically when it came to the death penalty.John Paul sternly opposed it and used his papacy as a platform against capital punishment, while Bush supports it and used it to his advantage in his run for the presidency.
The subtly clashed over the issue when Bush was governor of Texas and again as president, but the Pope's death allowed the U.S. leader to embrace John Paul's 26-year reign on his own terms and, experts said, score political points.
Bush led Texas from 1995 to 2000 when the state executed 152 people, the most under any U.S. governor in modern history.
During that time, the Pope was speaking out against the death penalty and rallying the church to fight it.
Posted by beth at 10:44 AM
