Pope Leo denounces death penalty as 'inadmissible' ahead of Pentagon's planned livestreamed execution: news

Pope Leo Denounces Death Penalty as Inadmissible Ahead of Pentagon Livestreamed Execution

Pope Leo XIV declared capital punishment “inadmissible” as the Vatican strongly criticized the Pentagon’s announced plans to publicly livestream an upcoming military execution. Marking the World Day Against the Death Penalty, the pontiff reaffirmed Catholic Church doctrine, stating that capital punishment constitutes an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the human person under any circumstance.

The papal statement follows the U.S. Department of Defense’s announcement that the scheduled firing squad execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan on December 3, 2026, would be broadcast publicly via livestream. Hasan was convicted in military court of killing 13 people and wounding more than 30 others during the 2009 mass shooting at the Texas military base. If carried out, it would mark the first U.S. military execution since 1961.

Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin condemned the proposed broadcast directly, calling it “incomprehensible” and warning that turning an execution into a public spectacle is entirely unacceptable. Parolin emphasized that capital punishment serves as no deterrent to crime and remains fundamentally incompatible with human dignity.

Domestically, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops echoed the Vatican’s opposition. Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, president of the USCCB, described the Pentagon’s livestreamed execution plan as a “barbaric promotion of a culture of death,” urging federal officials to reconsider the measure. While political leaders and administration officials have voiced differing viewpoints on broadcasting the military sentence, the Holy See maintained that justice must never compromise the preservation of fundamental human life.