Francis vs Christ's Church on the Death Penalty

Francis:

Letter to the President of the International Commission against the death penalty, March 20, 2015: 

'Today capital punishment is unacceptable, however serious the condemned’s crime may have been. It is an offence to the inviolability of life and to the dignity of the human person which contradicts God’s plan for man and for society and his merciful justice, and it fails to conform to any just purpose of punishment......
'All Christians and men of good will are thus called today to fight not only for the abolition of the death penalty, whether legal or illegal, and in all its forms, but also in order to improve prison conditions, with respect for the human dignity of the people deprived of their freedom.'

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To participants in the meeting promoted by the pontifical Council for promoting the new evangelization², Oct 11, 2017:  

'It must be clearly stated that the death penalty is an inhumane measure that, regardless of how it is carried out, abases human dignity. It is per se contrary to the Gospel…'  L’Osservatore Romano, October 13, 2017, pp. 7,11

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Christ's Church

The Roman Catechism, in its exposition of the Fifth Commandment, 'Thou shalt not kill'.

Another kind of lawful slaying belongs to the civil authorities, to whom is entrusted power of life and death, by the legal and judicious exercise of which they punish the guilty and protect the innocent. The just use of this power, far from involving the crime of murder, is an act of paramount obedience to this Commandment which prohibits murder. The end of the Commandment- is the preservation and security of human life. Now the punishments inflicted by the civil authority, which is the legitimate avenger of crime, naturally tend to this end, since they give security to life by repressing outrage and violence. Hence these words of David: In the morning I put to death all the wicked of the land, that I might cut off all the workers of iniquity from the city of the Lord.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church, issued by the authority of Pope John Paul II.

2267 The traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude, presupposing full ascertainment of the identity and responsibility of the offender, recourse to the death penalty, when this is the only practicable way to defend the lives of human beings effectively against the aggressor. 

The Baltimore Catechism, #3, from which countless American Catholics learned their Faith before the Council.

Q. 1276. Under what circumstances may human life be lawfully taken?A. Human life may be lawfully taken: ....
3. By the lawful execution of a criminal, fairly tried and found guilty of a crime punishable by death when the preservation of law and order and the good of the community require such execution.

St Augustine, Doctor of the Church

“The same divine authority that forbids the killing of a human being establishes certain exceptions, as when God authorizes killing by a general law or when He gives an explicit commission to an individual for a limited time. The agent who executes the killing does not commit homicide; he is an instrument as is the sword with which he cuts. Therefore, it is in no way contrary to the commandment, 'Thou shalt not kill' to wage war at God's bidding, or for the representatives of public authority to put criminals to death, according to the law, that is, the will of the most just reason” St. Augustine, The City of God, Book 1, chapter 21

St Thomas Aquinas, the Angelic Doctor, Doctor of the Church

“Therefore if a man be dangerous and infectious to the community, on account of some sin, it is praiseworthy and healthful that he be killed in order to safeguard the common good, since "a little leaven corrupteth the whole lump” (1 Cor. 5:6)” St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Whether It Is Lawful to Kill Sinners?

His Holiness Venerable Pope Pius XII

“Even in the case of the death penalty the State does not dispose of the individual’s right to life. Rather public authority limits itself to depriving the offender of the good of life in expiation for his guilt, after he, through his crime, deprived himself of his own right to life” Pius XII, Address to the First International Congress of Histopathology of the Nervous System, 14 Sep 1952, XIV, 328

The Catholic Encyclopedia, 1913

"The infliction of capital punishment is not contrary to the teaching of the Catholic Church, and the power of the State to visit upon culprits the penalty of death derives much authority from revelation and from the writings of theologians” Catholic Encyclopedia, Capital Punishment