US archbishop says Catholics in military should not take part in firing squads | Death penalty news

U.S. Archbishop Timothy Broglio has urged Catholic members of the country’s armed forces not to participate in a planned public execution by firing squad, saying it violates Church teachings.

Broglio issued a strongly worded statement Monday raising a series of concerns about the U.S. military’s plan to livestream the execution of Nidal Hasan, a former Army major who killed 13 people in a shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009.

“I oblige all Catholics who were shot to ask to be excused from this action contrary to the teaching of the Church,” Broglio said.

He also asked whether the United States wanted to “imitate the terrorists of this world and make a public spectacle of barbarically killing our adversaries.”

The plan to livestream the Dec. 3 execution was announced last week by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who called the spectacle a deterrent.

“We’ll make sure that people can watch it, that it’s public, because people need to understand that there are serious consequences for these kinds of things,” Hegseth told right-wing media outlet Real America’s Voice.

But the proposal has drawn backlash from lawmakers, rights groups and critics who warn that a publicly broadcast killing is not only unethical but could also be used for anti-American propaganda.

Hasan, now 56, was shot and killed by police during the 2009 Fort Hood attack and is now wheelchair-bound. Critics fear that the live broadcast of Hasan’s death could make him a symbol for armed groups potentially hostile to the United States.

Cardinal Blase J Cupich, the archbishop of Chicago, also condemned the plan to livestream the execution in a social media post on Monday, questioning the example it could set for children.

“In any case, the death penalty is unacceptable,” he said. “The scheduled broadcast of the shooting of a person is nothing short of performative barbarity. Do we really want our children, who will inevitably witness this scene, to be exposed to the pornography of state-sponsored murder?”

Hegseth said he wanted the execution to take place at the same time and place as the 2009 shooting, and described using the military to carry out the death sentence.

“This hadn’t been the case since World War II,” Hegseth said of the firing squad. “Well, I kind of like the mentality that we had in World War II, which was victory.”

The last American military execution by firing squad was that of Eddie Slovik, accused of desertion in 1945. He was the only American soldier to receive such a sentence for abandoning his post.

In Monday’s statement, Broglio also questioned the reasoning behind the military’s camera to commit Hasan’s death. He suggested it could harm the U.S. military’s image abroad.

“The U.S. military generally enjoys a good reputation around the world,” Broglio wrote. “Is there really any point in putting them in the same boat as terrorists by broadcasting to the whole world the image of the execution of a man in a wheelchair?

Without specifically mentioning Hasan’s case, Pope Leo also issued a statement on Saturday condemning the death penalty.

“The death penalty is inadmissible because it constitutes an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person,” he declared on social networks.

“The common good can be safeguarded and the demands of justice can be met without recourse to capital punishment: effective detention systems have been developed which protect citizens without completely depriving the guilty of the possibility of redemption. »

President Donald Trump, who oversaw an unprecedented rise in federal executions during his first term, approved Hasan’s execution.

However, on Saturday he indicated that he had not decided whether or not to carry out a live broadcast.

“There are two ideas: Don’t show it and show it. Because, you know, by showing it, maybe other people won’t do what he did,” Trump told reporters. “I will make a decision.”

Since the start of his second presidential term, Trump has advocated for increased use of the death penalty at the federal level. In April, he also approved additional methods for carrying out the death penalty, including the firing squad.

In the past, Trump has also proposed the death penalty as punishment for crimes ranging from drug trafficking to sedition, a term he has invoked against his political rivals.