Pope Leo XIV declares death penalty inadmissible as U.S. plans livestreamed execution
The pontiff's statement came as the U.S. announced a firing squad execution would be publicly broadcast on Dec. 3.
ROME — Pope Leo XIV on Saturday declared capital punishment "inadmissible" as his native United States announced plans to livestream an execution by firing squad.
In a post on X marking the World Day Against the Death Penalty, the American pope quoted revised Catholic teaching that the death penalty attacks the inherent dignity of a human being.
"The common good can be safeguarded and the requirements of justice can be met without recourse to capital punishment," read the post under Leo's official handle, @Pontifex.
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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 U.S. Defense Department announced Thursday that the firing squad execution of Nidal Malik Hasan, convicted of a 2009 shooting at the Fort Hood military base, will be livestreamed.
Hasan, scheduled to be executed at Fort Hood on Dec. 3, was convicted of killing 13 people and wounding 32 others.
Leo did not refer specifically to the planned execution, but his post came just hours after his top deputy, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, said explicitly that the planned U.S. public execution was "unacceptable."
Speaking to Vatican News, Parolin called the livestream "truly incomprehensible" and "unacceptable to turn death into a spectacle."
The Church’s position is one of total opposition to the death penalty; it is incompatible with human dignity and serves as no deterrent.
The head of the U.S. bishops conference, Archbishop Paul Coakley, expressed "shock" and "great sorrow" at the Pentagon's plans in a statement Friday.
In no way can Hasan’s actions be condoned but this decision is a barbaric promotion of a culture of death and must be reconsidered.
Pope Francis in 2018 amended official Catholic teaching to declare capital punishment "inadmissible" in all circumstances.
Previously, the Catechism of the Catholic Church said the church did not exclude recourse to capital punishment "if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor."
Like Francis before him, Leo has made visiting prisons a key part of his papal travel.
"If any of you fear being abandoned by everyone, know that God will never abandon you, and that the church will stand by your side," Leo told inmates at the Bata prison in Equatorial Guinea in April.
He is to visit a prison in Buenos Aires during his upcoming tour through Latin America.
The planned livestream has sparked criticism from some U.S. politicians.
Republican representative Austin Scott said he supported executing Hasan but that "livestreaming executions is what Jihadists do. America is better than that."
Senator Mark Kelly, a Democrat, said public executions are "the kind of thing that Iran and the Taliban do."
On Friday, Vice President JD Vance, a practising Catholic, expressed doubt on whether the livestream would proceed, telling reporters, "I'm not going to be watching it."
With files from CityNews, Global News and Toronto Star