By Darrick Taylor, Crisis Magazine - I am not at all surprised His Holiness intervened to provide cover for Cardinal Cupich, since he is both a friend and, by all accounts, a benefactor—as Cupich is believed to have played a role in his rise to the throne of St. Peter. But his comments are revealing for other reasons. In them, His Holiness repeated opinions about the death penalty which confirm that, at least on that issue (and others), he is indeed a “progressive” who appears to equate the death penalty with abortion in terms of moral gravity. It is also revealing because of the way he framed the issue using political terms, “prolife” being a term associated with public policy and not Catholic doctrine.