Pope calls death penalty 'inadmissible' as Trump says he'll decide on execution livestream
On World Day Against the Death Penalty, Pope Leo XIV called capital punishment inadmissible. Trump said he will decide himself whether the Fort Hood shooter's execution is livestreamed.
Archive image · Photo: Edgar Beltrán, The Pillar / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
Pope Leo XIV, the first American-born pope, declared capital punishment "inadmissible" on Saturday, World Day Against the Death Penalty. In a post on X he quoted the teaching revised by Pope Francis, saying the common good can be safeguarded and justice met "without recourse to capital punishment." He did not mention specific cases. Hours earlier, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin called the Pentagon's plan to livestream an execution "truly incomprehensible," and Archbishop Paul Coakley, head of the U.S. bishops' conference, called it a "barbaric promotion of a culture of death."
The Pentagon announced on Thursday that the firing-squad execution of former Army Maj. Nidal Hasan, convicted of killing 13 people and wounding 32 at Fort Hood in 2009, would be livestreamed; Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Hasan was "gonna get a firing squad of soldiers – as it should be." The execution is scheduled for Dec. 3. Trump said on Saturday: "There are two thoughts: don't show it and show it," adding that showing it might deter others, but "I'll make a decision." Pastor Robert Jeffress backed a public execution. Criticism came from both parties: Republican Sen. Thom Tillis likened it to "oppressive dictatorships," while Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy called it "disgusting." The U.N. human rights office warned it would breach the prohibition of torture.
Experts interviewed by AP said Army regulations do not mention broadcasting and that only Hasan himself would likely have standing to challenge the plan. The last U.S. military execution took place in 1961, according to AP. According to Euronews, 30 executions were carried out in the U.S. in the first nine months of 2026. The debate was revived by Tennessee's failed execution of Christa Pike on Sept. 30; Gov. Bill Lee paused executions for the rest of the year. Pike, convicted of the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, was returned to prison on Saturday, her lawyers said.