Regarding Father James Martin’s “Abortion and the Grumbling Crowd” (Houses of Worship, July 22): The heinousness of abortion—intentional killing of the most defenseless and vulnerable among us—prompted the bishops of this country to identify it as the pre-eminent moral issue of our time. The Catholic Church identifies abortion as intrinsically evil, meaning that it is always wrong by its nature; no circumstances could ever justify it.

Many progressives risk diminishing the unique evil of abortion through false equivalences. A favorite, cited by Fr. Martin, is the death penalty. The church has always taught that the state has the inherent right to carry out capital punishment. How and when is a matter for debate. The last three popes have sought to limit its application, and Pope Francis has declared it “inadmissible.” The designation is something of a theological unicorn: The pope says that capital punishment should never actually take place. But that’s not the same as saying it is wrong in itself. To say that would be to contradict the apostolic faith of the church.

Another issue often cited is poverty. No one of good will wants people to remain poor, but how best to relieve poverty is a matter for prudential judgment. Give a man a fish or teach a man to fish?

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