"Don't Hang Saddam, Says Vatican"

Or, at least says Cardinal Martino:

As the world remains divided over the death penalty meted out to former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, Vatican and Roman Catholic officials said on Sunday that he should not be put to death even if he has committed crimes against humanity because every life is sacred.

Cardinal Renato Martino, head of the Vatican's Council for Justice and Peace, said that carrying out the death sentence by hanging would be an unjustifiably vindictive action. "For me, punishing a crime with another crime - which is what killing for vindication is - would mean that we are still at the point of demanding an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth," he was quoted as saying by Italian news agency Ansa.

"Unfortunately, Iraq is one of the few countries that have not yet made the civilised choice of abolishing the death penalty," said Martino.

Martino ruffled feathers in the United States government three years ago when he said the US troops had treated Saddam "like a cow" when they captured him. - Christian Today

More:

• Cardinal Martino deplores death verdict for Saddam Hussein
• Vatican official says death penalty for Saddam would be wrong

Frankly, guys, I wouldn't dig your heals in on this one.