Did Pope Francis declare that according to the teaching of the Catholic Church capital punishment is intrinsically evil? The Internet is full of news that Pope Francis has amended the Catechism of the Catholic Church to forbid capital punishment under all circumstances.

One thing remains unclear for me, however:


Did Pope Francis indeed declare the capital punishment to be intrisincally evil, that is, sinful under any and all circumstances, even if / when effective incarcerination is impossible?
Or did he (merely?) state that since in contemporary times effective incarcerination is possible, it should always be used instead of capital punishment?


That second interpretation seems to be hinted by these words:


  Lastly, more effective systems of detention have been developed, which ensure the due protection of citizens but, at the same time, do not definitively deprive the guilty of the possibility of redemption.


However, these words seem to hint the first interpretation:


  the Church teaches, in the light of the Gospel, that “the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person”


The distinction seems to matter because the question whether in contemporary times the States can, in all, even most extreme cases, effectively protect the lives of their citizens without capital punishment seems to not belong to the scope of "morals and faith", which is the scope of the teaching of the Church. In particular, I feel, this seems dubious in states where there is war or where the influences of organized crime are beyond control.

Context that I still feel belongs to the question: The way I used to be getting this (maybe wrongly) the Church was teaching that physical violence, while undesireable, was a rightful response to someone's unjust aggresion, whether the threat posed by this unjust aggression was immediate (as if, someone is shooting at innocent people) or recurrent (as if, an enemy state is preparing an invasion against us - hence even preventive war may be morally acceptable in certain cases; or as if a Mafia boss cannot be guaranteed to be succesfully imprisoned for a prolonged time because of his out of control influences, so the State sentences him to capital punishment before his men rescue him from prison or a corrupt judge frees him, either would most likely happen if he hasn't been executed already).

However, I have feeling, in many cases, including this one, Pope Francis amends this part of the teaching of the Church, saying that physical violence may only be permissible as a response to immediate threat, but never to a recurring threat. Which is why it may still be permissible for a police officer to shoot down a Mafia hitman if in any other case this Mafia hitman would shoot down the police officer instead; but it is not permissible to sentence said hitman to capital punishment even if because of the ongoing war with Mafia rebels he cannot be effectively imprisoned for a prolonged time. Is this interpretation correct?
Did Pope Francis declare that according to the teaching of the Catholic Church capital punishment is intrinsically evil?

The short answer is no.

The choice of words regarding the Roman Pontiff's decision to try to abolish the death penalty is not strong enough to raise the death penalty to the fact that it is intrinsically evil in all situations.

The pope stated the Church teaches, in the light of the Gospel, that “the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person.”

According to the Cambridge Dictionary inadmissible is defined as the following:  


  Unable to be accepted, esp. in a law court: 
  
  The lie detector test was inadmissible as evidence in the case.


Or if one prefers the Merriam-Webster Dictionary:


  Not able to be allowed or considered in a legal case : not admissible


What is an intrinsic evil?


  Intrinsic evil is something which is always evil, no matter the circumstances or rationale. If an act is intrinsically evil, it cannot be justified by the intention or by the circumstances (the environment, social pressure, emergency situation, etc.)


Historically speaking the Church has allowed the use executions as a means for courts to protect its' citizens against serious evil doers.

What is the Catholic Church's historical position on capital punishment: how did we get here?


  Some issues allow for a diversity of opinion, and Catholics are permitted leeway in endorsing or opposing particular policies. This is the case with the questions of when to go to war and when to apply the death penalty. Though the Church urges caution regarding both of these issues, it acknowledges that the state has the right to employ them in some circumstances (CCC 2309, 2267).
  
  Pope Benedict XVI, when he was still Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, spoke of this in a document dealing with when Catholics may receive Communion: 
  
  "Not all moral issues have the same moral weight as abortion and euthanasia. For example, if a Catholic were to be at odds with the Holy Father on the -application of capital punishment or on the decision to wage war, he would not for that reason be considered unworthy to present himself to receive Holy Communion. While the Church exhorts civil authorities to seek peace, not war, and to exercise discretion and mercy in imposing punishment on criminals, it may still be permissible to take up arms to repel an aggressor or to have recourse to capital punishment. There may be a legitimate diversity of opinion even among Catholics about waging war and applying the death penalty, but not however with regard to abortion and euthanasia" (WRHC 3). - Five Non-Negotiable Issues.


Pope Francis has yet to state that capital punishment is grounds for a Catholic not being to able to receive Holy Communion if one partakes in some legal form with a lawfully convicted criminal's execution. Therefore capital punishment is not an intrinsically evil act. 


  Even the new wording of the Catechism, as approved by Pope Francis, does not quite require Catholics to disapprove of the death penalty in all circumstances. The Pope’s new language does not contradict the time-honored Church teaching that the state has the authority to invoke the death penalty in appropriate circumstances. (That traditional teaching was clearly upheld, in the same section 2267 of the Catechism, even after Pope John Paul II called for a tighter restriction on executions.)
  
  Nor does the revised Catechism teach that the use of capital punishment is intrinsically immoral. - Pope Francis and the death penalty: another dose of confusion