Pope Leo XIV calls death penalty inadmissible as US plans livestreamed execution

Pope Leo XIV declared the death penalty inadmissible in a social media post on Saturday marking the World Day Against the Death Penalty. The pontiff wrote that capital punishment attacks human dignity and that modern detention systems protect society without eliminating the possibility of redemption for the condemned.

The statement came hours after the US Defense Department announced it would livestream the execution of former Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan, scheduled for December 3 at Fort Hood. Hasan was convicted of killing 13 people and wounding 32 others in a 2009 shooting at the Texas military base.

“The death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person.”

Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin explicitly called the planned public execution "unacceptable" on Saturday. Leo did not mention the specific case in his post, though the timing followed the Pentagon announcement by one day.

President Donald Trump said Saturday he would ultimately decide whether the execution proceeds as a public broadcast. The firing squad execution would be the first of its kind livestreamed by the US military.

Pope Francis revised Catholic teaching in 2018 to declare capital punishment inadmissible in all circumstances, reversing previous doctrine that permitted it in rare cases. Leo cited this revised catechism in his statement.