Pope Leo XIV has declared capital punishment ‘inadmissible’ following plans for the United States to livestream an execution by firing squad.
In a post on X, the Pope, who is from the US, said the death penalty ‘attacks the inherent dignity of a human being’.
He wrote: ‘The common good can be safeguarded and the requirements of justice can be met without recourse to capital punishment.
‘Effective systems of detention have been developed that protect citizens while at the same time do not completely deprive those who are guilty of the possibility of redemption.’
The post ended with the hashtag #NoDeathPenalty.
The US Defense Department announced Thursday its intention to livestream the firing squad execution of Nidal Malik Hasan, who was convicted of a 2009 of killing 13 people and wounding 32 others in a shooting spree at Fort Hood military base.
Leo didn’t refer specifically to the planned execution or the botched killing in Tennessee of Christa Pike, that saw the killer survive two attempted lethal injections. However, his post came just hours after his Leo’s top deputy, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, said explicitly that the planned US public execution was ‘unacceptable’.
Pope Leo’s post came on World Day Against the Death Penalty, which was held on Saturday.
Pope Francis previously declared capital punishment ‘inadmissible’.
Meanwhile, the head of the US bishops conference, Archbishop Paul Coakley, expressed ‘shock’” and ‘great sorrow’ at the Pentagon’s plans.
‘In no way can Hasan’s actions be condoned but this decision is a barbaric promotion of a culture of death and must be reconsidered,’ he said in a statement Friday.
‘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.’