Pope Leo calls death penalty "inadmissible" as Pentagon plans to livestream execution
Leo's World Day Against the Death Penalty post follows Vatican and US bishops' condemnation of plans to livestream Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan's firing-squad execution.
Part of a larger narrative
Hasan Execution Livestream Controversy
- Pope Leo calls death penalty "inadmissible" as Pentagon plans to livestream executionyou are here
- Military's Top Catholic Bishop Tells Troops to Refuse Firing Squad Duty
- Fort Hood survivor backs firing-squad execution of Hasan, doubts public livestream
- Trump administration reportedly backs away from livestreaming Hasan execution
- Trump wavers on livestreaming Fort Hood shooter's execution after backlash
What to know
- Pope Leo XIV declared the death penalty "inadmissible" on World Day Against the Death Penalty, days after the Pentagon said it would livestream Nidal Hasan's Dec. 3 firing-squad execution.
- Trump personally approved the livestream plan; Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Parolin and US bishops' conference head Archbishop Coakley both condemned it.
- Vice President JD Vance, a Catholic convert, cast doubt on whether the Pentagon will actually proceed with the livestream and said he would not watch it.
- The controversy follows a botched lethal-injection execution of Christa Pike in Tennessee the previous week, intensifying US debate over execution methods.
“It is truly incomprehensible that anyone would want to use this system today — I don't know for what purpose. It is certainly unacceptable to turn death into a spectacle.”
Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State · Vatican News, via Philadelphia Inquirer/AP · Oct 9
Pope Leo XIV Head of the Catholic Church
Donald Trump US President
Pete Hegseth US Defense Secretary
JD Vance US Vice PresidentPaul Coakley Archbishop, president of US Conference of Catholic BishopsPietro Parolin Vatican Secretary of State
How it unfolded 2 developments, newest first · click a bar or a number to jump articlespostscomments
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Pope Leo XIV declares death penalty "inadmissible"
On World Day Against the Death Penalty, Pope Leo posted on X quoting revised Catholic teaching that capital punishment attacks human dignity, without naming the Hasan case directly.
“The death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person.”
— Pope Leo XIV -
21 outlets first by Vatican News, 3d ago · also Newsweek, Euronews, Straits Times, Reuters, Globe and Mail, The Hill +14 · read ↗
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BREAKING: "INADMISSABLE!" Pope Leo XIV delivers a STINGING reminder about the sanctity of human life as Pentagon Pete prepares to turn a military execution into a ghoulish public spectacle! The first American pope has spoken out against the death penalty in unmistakable terms –
2 more of the top 3 · 16 posts in this stretch
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AP News: Pope Leo declares death penalty 'inadmissible' as his native US plans to livestream execution
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Yeah, but "a right to X" means "You are allowed to decide whether you do X or not, and this decision must be respected by others". It doesn't mean "You must always decide to do X". For example: The right to free speech doesn't mean you must always keep speaking and saying things others might not like. It means "You can decide to say things others…
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Vance doubts the livestream will actually occur
Vice President JD Vance, a Catholic convert, told reporters he was unsure the Pentagon would proceed with livestreaming and said he personally would not watch it.
“I don't know that that's actually going to happen. ... if it's ultimately livestreamed, I'm not going to be watching it.”
— JD Vance -
background
Catholic leaders condemn the livestream plan — Archbishop Paul Coakley, head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin both publicly condemned the plan as immoral and a spectacle.
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Trump confirms he personally approved the livestream — Trump told reporters he approved the Pentagon's decision to livestream the execution, saying he does not care how Hasan dies as long as the execution happens.
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Pentagon confirms livestreamed execution date of Dec. 3 — The U.S. Defense Department formally announced that Nidal Malik Hasan's firing squad execution, scheduled for Fort Hood on December 3, would be livestreamed.
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Hegseth says Hasan's execution will be made public — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, in an interview with Jack Posobiec of Real America's Voice, said soldiers would carry out the firing squad execution and that it would be made public.
What people are saying 12 voices from 2 sites · best of 16 · verbatim
- Oct 12
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Know what the American slang word for Cockneys is? There isn’t one, because who gives a shit about Cockneys? 😆
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The Catholics have lost their way since the crusades. Why even be a Catholic and not just a protestant in 2026? It wouldn't surprise me to see "pope" Leo in a rainbow outfit soon.
- Oct 11
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As many have said, pope Leo is repeating words from pope Francis. In Argentinian Spanish it sounds perfectly normal, so I don't think there much to read here other than they strongly disagree.
- Oct 10
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It's you shall not murder and if you were devout you're know that too Look in the mirror before you say silly things like that, you are the one who needs to hear them.
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I don't speak Hebrew, sadly. The Greek word does usually mean murder, yes. Though you can also interprete it as kill.
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You don't think that protestants also thought they were also going back to a purer form of Christianity during the reformation?
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It's weird how the Catholic church is against death penalty (I remember nun criticizing execution of Saddam Hussein when one of my classmates asked her about it during a religion class) but at the same time conservatives tend to support this primitive form of punishment
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You didn't answer my concern. Many previous popes have determined executions to be admissable. You cannot just say "well the latest pope disapproves so all the previous popes were wrong".
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https://www. europesays.com/us/1112801/ Pope Leo calls death penalty “inadmissible” as U.S. plans to livestream Fort Hood execution # News # PopeLeoXIV # UnitedStates # UnitedStates # US
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while in the US or in Japan it's a disposable right like another that can be given away or lost due to your actions like in a breach of contract ???
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You’re not being downvoted because you’re wrong about the Old Testament—it really does contain many gruesome episodes of vengeance and capital punishment. You’re being downvoted because you’re assuming that Catholics read the Bible uncritically, like a giant proof text of law and morality, and that the Bible is the sole basis for the religion. But…
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Pope Leo XIV declares capital punishment “inadmissible” days after his native U.S. announced plans to livestream an execution by firing squad. @ AssociatedPress reports: https:// flip.it/LxZYyQ # PopeLeo # DeathPenalty # USA