Pope Leo XIV Condemns Death Penalty as Pentagon Weighs Livestreaming Execution

Pope Leo XIV has denounced the death penalty as "inadmissible," a stance consistent with updated Catholic doctrine, as the Pentagon considers plans to livestream the execution of Nidal Malik Hasan, the former Army psychiatrist convicted of the 2009 Fort Hood mass shooting.

In a social media post on Saturday, marking World Day Against the Death Penalty, Leo, the first American pope, reiterated the Church's position that capital punishment is an affront to human dignity. This position was formalized under his predecessor, Pope Francis, who revised the Catechism of the Catholic Church in 2018 to declare the death penalty "inadmissible in all circumstances."

"Consequently 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 revised Catechism states. "The common good can be safeguarded and the requirements of justice can be met without recourse to capital punishment: effective systems of detention have been developed that protect citizens while at the same time do not completely deprive those who are guilty of the possibility of redemption."

The Pope's statement, which did not directly reference the U.S. military's execution plans, comes as the Pentagon announced Thursday it had scheduled Hasan's execution by firing squad for December 3. Hasan, convicted of killing 13 people and wounding 32 others at Fort Hood, would be the first person executed by the U.S. military since 1945 if the plan proceeds.

President Donald Trump stated on Saturday that he had not yet made a decision regarding the proposed livestream. Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, criticized the idea of broadcasting the execution, calling it "truly incomprehensible" and "unacceptable to turn death into a spectacle."

Several lawmakers, including Republicans, have also expressed opposition to the public broadcast. Senator Thom Tillis, R-N.C., stated that "Public executions are what oppressive dictatorships like Iran and Afghanistan do. It should not be happening in America."

Archbishop Paul Coakley, head of the U.S. bishops conference, conveyed "shock" and "great sorrow" over the plan, urging reconsideration. He described the potential broadcast as a "barbaric promotion of a culture of death."

Vice President JD Vance, who is Catholic, voiced skepticism about the Pentagon moving forward with a public execution and said he would not watch such a broadcast. The Pentagon's planned execution and the Pope's statement on capital punishment also follow a recent incident in Tennessee where Christa Gail Pike survived a botched lethal injection.