Pope Leo decries death penalty as Hegseth’s public execution plan sparks backlash

Pope Leo XIV on Saturday called capital punishment “inadmissible” on World Day Against the Death Penalty, amid the Pentagon’s plans to livestream the December execution of former Army Maj. Nidal Hasan in Texas.

“The death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person,” the pontiff wrote on social media .

“The common good can be safeguarded and the requirements of justice can be met without recourse to capital punishment: 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,” he continued.

On Thursday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the public would be able to view the convicted terrorist’s Dec. 3 execution by firing squad. Hasan, a former Army psychiatrist, was convicted in the 2009 shooting at Fort Hood, Texas, which killed 13 people and injured 32 others.

While the pontiff did not directly comment on Hasan’s case, other Catholic leaders and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle denounced the livestream plans directly.

Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin told reporters Friday that the plans were unacceptable, according to The Vatican News.

“It is truly incomprehensible that anyone would want to use this method in this day and age,” he said. “I do not know for what purpose. It is certainly unacceptable to turn death into a spectacle. However guilty the person may be, there are other ways.”

The president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Archbishop Paul Croakley, urged the Pentagon to reconsider the public execution.

“In no way can Hassan’s actions be condoned, but this decision is a barbaric promotion of a culture of death and must be reconsidered,” he said in an interview with Vatican News.

The Pentagon declined to comment on the pontiff’s criticism.