Pentagon plan to broadcast firing squad execution 'barbaric,' U.S. bishops president says; Detroit archbishop 'deeply disturbed'
WASHINGTON (OSV News) – After Pentagon officials said they planned to livestream the execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan by firing squad in December, the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops denounced the plan as "barbaric."
President Donald Trump recently approved the execution by firing squad of Hasan, the former U.S. Army psychiatrist convicted of killing 13 people and injuring 32 others in a mass shooting at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said Oct. 8 in an interview with the pro-Trump TV outlet Real America's Voice News that the execution would take place at Fort Hood on Dec. 3, and that it would be made public.
"We'll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it's public," said Hegseth, who uses the moniker "secretary of war" since Trump signed an executive order last year adding the "Department of War" as a secondary, ceremonial title for the Department of Defense.
Hegseth later confirmed his comments on X.
Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City, president of the USCCB, said in an Oct. 9 statement that he learned of the plans "with shock and great sorrow."
"Our God is the God of life," Archbishop Coakley said. "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. The word of God exhorts us: 'do not repay anyone evil for evil' (Romans 12:17). The public execution even of one who has done grave harm will only further undermine the moral fabric of our nation and be a blight on the conscience of its people."
In a separate statement published Oct. 9, Detroit Archbishop Edward J. Weisenburger echoed Archbishop Coakley's condemnation of the plan, saying he was "deeply disturbed" by the decision.
"Recalling that our Savior’s crucifixion was undertaken in a highly public and visible location for what were probably similar motivations, it is clear that such an approach is the antithesis of the Gospel and contrary to our Savior’s teachings," Archbishop Weisenburger said. "While justice must be served, it must never be pursued in a way that diminishes respect for human dignity. Any execution — but especially one turned into public spectacle — undermines the sanctity of human life and erodes the values that serve as the foundation of civilized society."
The Catholic Church's official magisterium opposes the use of capital punishment as a violation of the inherent sanctity of human life, and advocates for the abolition of the practice worldwide.
The late Pope Francis revised the Catechism of the Catholic Church in 2018 to clarify the Church's teaching that capital punishment is morally "inadmissible" in the modern world "because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person."
In his 2020 encyclical, "Fratelli Tutti," Pope Francis cited the teaching of St. John Paul II, writing that his predecessor "stated clearly and firmly that the death penalty is inadequate from a moral standpoint and no longer necessary from that of penal justice."
Archbishop Weisenburger said the Church continues to stand with the victims of the massacre at Fort Hood, but that Christian justice demands a more humane approach.
"It cannot be forgotten that the horrific violence perpetrated at Fort Hood brought immeasurable pain and suffering to the victims, their families, and our nation. We must support those who suffer and continue to remember them in prayer. However, I strongly urge those responsible for this decision to reconsider it and to seek a more humane and dignified approach to justice," Archbishop Weisenburger said.
"Let us seek a justice that heals rather than dehumanizes. Let us remain steadfast as a nation in our commitment to human dignity, even in the face of the most grievous crimes. And may God guide us toward a deeper respect for life as well as a more just, humane, and dignified society," he added.
Earlier this year, Pope Leo XIV delivered a video message to Catholic death penalty abolitionists marking 15 years since the abolition of the death penalty in his home state of Illinois.
If carried out, Hasan's execution would mark the first time U.S. officials livestreamed an execution to the public. Some legal analysts noted that appeals and other legal processes could delay Hasan's execution beyond Dec. 3.
The last public execution in the U.S. took place in Missouri in 1937, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
In his statement, Archbishop Coakley added, "I pray for the intercession of Our Lady of Good Counsel that we as a nation may always choose life even in the most trying times and circumstances."
