US cardinals and bishops condemn Pentagon plan to broadcast execution live
Cardinal Gerhard Müller and Cardinal Blase Cupich are among the Catholic leaders who have denounced the Pentagon's decision to televise the December 3 execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan
The Pentagon's decision to broadcast live the execution of Nidal Malik Hasan, the Fort Hood shooter convicted of killing 13 people and wounding 32 in 2009, has drawn condemnation from religious and political leaders across the United States. The execution is scheduled for December 3. Cardinal Gerhard Müller, former prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, called it "pure barbarism" and "a terrifying example for the world," and said it contradicts both the teaching of the Catholic Church and the basic principles of modern humanism.
Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, the archbishop of Chicago, described the broadcast as "barbarism treated as spectacle." In his statement, Cupich questioned the morality of exposing children to what he called "pornography of a state-sponsored killing." His position rests on the conviction that the death penalty is unacceptable in all cases, in line with the Church's Catechism and the position of Pope Leo XIV.
Opposition across party lines
The dispute has also reached the Senate, where even supporters of capital punishment have spoken out. Sen. Thom Tillis said that "making the execution public and broadcasting it is more than repugnant." Tillis compared the practice to that of "oppressive dictatorships" and said such a thing should not happen in America.
Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, called the decision a "barbaric promotion of a culture of death" that could erode the country's moral fabric. Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, who heads pastoral services for Catholics in the military, asked any Catholic soldier assigned to the firing squad to request to be excused from the task, which he said runs contrary to Church teaching.
The defense secretary and the scale of the protest
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the plan to broadcast the execution. The move has drawn growing opposition, including from members of Hegseth's own Republican Party. The debate is no longer only about the method of execution but about turning an act of justice into a public spectacle.
In a statement for the World Day Against the Death Penalty, Pope Leo XIV said that "the death penalty is inadmissible because it attacks the inviolability and dignity of the person." Several Catholic leaders have noted that the last public execution in the United States took place in 1937, and warned against returning to practices that dehumanize both the victim and the condemned.
Hasan and the Fort Hood shooting
Nidal Malik Hasan carried out the shooting at Fort Hood in 2009, killing 13 people and wounding 32 others. His case has revived the debate over the death penalty in the United States.
