Archbishop Timothy Broglio, who oversees Catholic pastoral services for the U.S. military, stated on Monday that Catholics assigned to the firing squad for Nidal Malik Hasan must request to be excused from the execution. The planned event, scheduled for December 3 at Fort Hood, would mark the first U.S. military execution by firing squad since 1945 and the first of any kind since 1961.
Hasan, a former Army psychiatrist now 56 years old, was convicted of killing 13 people and wounding 32 others in a 2009 attack at Fort Hood. He currently uses a wheelchair after being shot by responding officers during the incident. The Pentagon has proposed livestreaming the execution, a move Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has defended as a deterrent that would take place at the time, day, and location of the original shooting.
Broglio, who presided over the funeral of Michael Grant Cahill, the only civilian killed in the 2009 attack, questioned the government's intent to broadcast the killing. He asked whether the U.S. government sought to imitate terrorists by making a public spectacle of the execution. In his statement, Broglio challenged the wisdom of associating the military with terrorist groups by broadcasting images of a disabled man being executed to a global audience.
The archbishop cited Church teaching in his directive, noting that Army regulations permit soldiers to seek religious exemptions. He described Hasan's crime as heinous but argued that exposing the public to the execution serves no purpose. Broglio added that the U.S. military generally enjoys a good reputation and warned against undermining it.
Other Catholic leaders have also criticized the plan. Archbishop Paul Coakley, head of the U.S. bishops conference, expressed shock and great sorrow, calling the decision a barbaric promotion of a culture of death. Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, told reporters on Friday that turning death into a spectacle is unacceptable and that the death penalty is incompatible with human dignity.
Pope Leo XIV reiterated the Church's opposition to capital punishment on Saturday, marking World Day Against the Death Penalty. In a post on X, Leo described the death penalty as inadmissible because it attacks human dignity. He noted that effective systems of detention can protect citizens without depriving guilty individuals of the possibility of redemption. The Pope did not specifically mention the Pentagon's plan for Hasan in that post.
Political reactions have been mixed. President Donald Trump said Saturday he had not yet decided whether to allow the livestream to proceed, though he has reportedly expressed private doubts about broadcasting it. Vice President JD Vance, a Catholic, expressed skepticism about whether the Pentagon would proceed with a public execution and stated he would not watch if it were carried out. Senator Thom Tillis, R-N.C., compared public executions to practices in oppressive dictatorships like Iran and Afghanistan.