Pope Leo XIV condemned the death penalty as “inadmissible” on Saturday, marking the World Day Against the Death Penalty, as the United States announced plans to livestream the firing squad execution of Nidal Malik Hasan, convicted of the 2009 Fort Hood shooting that killed 13 and wounded 32.
In a post on X, the American pope quoted Catholic teaching revised under Pope Francis, stating that capital punishment “attacks the inherent dignity of a human being” and that justice can be served without it. “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 post read, ending with #NoDeathPenalty .
The U.S. Defense Department said Thursday that Hasan’s execution, scheduled for Dec. 3 at Fort Hood, will be livestreamed. Hours before the pope’s post, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, called the plan “unacceptable,” adding that turning executions into public spectacles was incompatible with human dignity .
U.S. political and religious leaders also criticized the livestream. Archbishop Paul Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, called it a “barbaric promotion of a culture of death.” Republican Rep. Austin Scott said livestreaming executions was “what jihadists do,” while Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly compared public executions to practices in Iran and Taliban-ruled Afghanistan .
