Is this article clear to the "average" Catholic?

Yesterday I read this Catholic News Service article on Abortion and Capital Punishment and was somewhat dismayed by it. As I have stated before, everthing I read from CNS, I read with a skeptical view.

My reading of the article did not leave me with a clear distinction that Capital Punishment could be morally justifiable and that the prudential decision for its applicability resides with the State, not the Church. While the statements regarding abortion were quite clear, I was left with a "confusion" of sorts regarding the ACTUAL teaching about captial punishment.

That being said, I tried, as best I could, to read this from the perspective of a Catholic who would not be well versed in the Catechism or the Church's perennial teaching on the subject, nor from a view of basic moral theology.

Perhaps others see it differently.

Article here.