Pope Leo XIV Calls Death Penalty Inadmissible as U.S. Plans Dec. 3 Livestreamed Execution
Updated
Updated · NBC News · Oct 10
Pope Leo XIV Calls Death Penalty Inadmissible as U.S. Plans Dec. 3 Livestreamed Execution
3 articles · Updated · NBC News · Oct 10
Summary
Leo used World Day Against the Death Penalty to restate Catholic teaching that capital punishment is “inadmissible,” saying justice and public safety can be protected without executions and with room for redemption.
The intervention came after the Pentagon said Nidal Malik Hasan will be executed by firing squad at Fort Hood on Dec. 3 and that the killing will be livestreamed; Hasan was convicted in the 2009 attack that killed 13 and wounded 32.
Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, called the planned public execution “truly incomprehensible” and “unacceptable,” saying turning death into a spectacle violates human dignity and does not deter crime.
U.S. church leaders also condemned the plan, with Archbishop Paul Coakley saying the public execution would further erode the nation’s moral fabric.
Leo’s message follows Francis’ 2018 revision of Catholic teaching to oppose capital punishment in all circumstances, a stance Leo has reinforced through prison visits and appeals to inmates’ dignity.