Pope Leo XIV said the death penalty is “inadmissible” in a Saturday post marking World Day Against the Death Penalty, restating the Catholic Church’s teaching that capital punishment violates human dignity. His remarks did not refer specifically to the Pentagon’s plans for a U.S. military execution.
The Pentagon has scheduled the execution of Nidal Malik Hasan for Dec. 3 at Fort Hood, according to the source report. Hasan, a former Army psychiatrist, was convicted of killing 13 people and wounding 32 in a 2009 shooting at the Texas military base. The report says the planned firing squad execution would be the first carried out by the U.S. military since 1945.
President Donald Trump said Saturday he had not decided whether to approve a proposal to livestream the execution, which the report says was advanced by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Vice President JD Vance said he was skeptical the broadcast would proceed and would not watch it. The plan has drawn criticism from lawmakers, including Republicans, and Catholic leaders.
Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin called the proposed broadcast unacceptable, saying it would turn death into a spectacle. Archbishop Paul Coakley, head of the U.S. bishops’ conference, also urged the government to reconsider. Their comments concern the proposed broadcast and execution; Hasan’s conviction and the deaths and injuries in the 2009 attack are reported facts in the source material.
The Catholic Church’s official teaching was revised in 2018 under Pope Francis to state that the death penalty is inadmissible in all circumstances. Leo’s post echoed that position.
