Catholic soldiers execution participation should be refused if assigned to the planned firing squad for convicted Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan, the U.S. archbishop responsible for Catholic ministry to the armed forces said Monday, adding objections to a Pentagon proposal to livestream the event.
Archbishop Timothy Broglio criticized the plan to publicly broadcast the execution of Hasan, a former Army psychiatrist convicted of killing 13 people and injuring 32 in the 2009 Fort Hood attack. Hasan, 56, uses a wheelchair after being shot by responding officers during the rampage.
Hasan is scheduled to be executed at Fort Hood on Dec. 3 at 1 p.m. CST, according to the U.S. Army. It would be the first U.S. military firing squad execution since 1945 and the first military execution by any method since 1961. Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth has said he wants soldiers to carry out the sentence at the time, day of the week and location of the shooting, arguing a public broadcast would serve as a deterrent.
Broglio, who presided over the funeral of Michael Grant Cahill, the only civilian killed in the attack, expressed sorrow for the victims while questioning whether the government should turn the execution into a spectacle. He asked whether the United States wants to “imitate the terrorists of this world” by publicly displaying the killing of an adversary.
Catholic soldiers execution objections mount
“Hasan’s crime was heinous, but does exposing the public to his execution serve any purpose?” Broglio said in a statement. “I oblige any Catholics assigned to the firing squad to request to be excused from this action contrary to the teaching of the Church.” Army policy allows service members to seek religious exemptions or accommodations. It remains unclear how the military will select members of the firing squad.
Broglio also warned that the U.S. military’s global reputation could be harmed by a broadcast. “Is there really a value to throwing them in the same boat with terrorists by broadcasting the image of the execution of a man in a wheelchair to the whole world?” he said.
No U.S. government execution has ever been publicly broadcast, and the proposal has drawn opposition from religious and political leaders. The head of the U.S. bishops conference, Archbishop Paul Coakley, said he was shocked and urged reconsideration, calling the plan a “barbaric promotion of a culture of death.”
Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin called the proposed broadcast “truly incomprehensible” and said it is unacceptable to turn death into a spectacle. He reiterated the Church’s stance that capital punishment is incompatible with human dignity and does not deter crime.
Pope Leo XIV, marking the World Day Against the Death Penalty, restated the Catholic Church’s teaching that the death penalty is “inadmissible” because it violates the inviolability and dignity of the person. He wrote that public safety and justice can be protected without resorting to capital punishment, citing effective systems of detention.
President Donald Trump said Saturday he has not decided whether to allow the livestream proposal to proceed, though he has privately expressed doubts about broadcasting the execution, according to officials. Vice President JD Vance, who is Catholic, voiced skepticism that a public execution would occur and said he would not watch if it did.
Some lawmakers, including Republicans, have opposed the broadcast plan. “Public executions are what oppressive dictatorships like Iran and Afghanistan do,” Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said Thursday. “It should not be happening in America.”
No U.S. government execution has ever been publicly broadcast, and the debate over Hasan’s case comes amid wider scrutiny of capital punishment practices. The Holy See has consistently urged nations to move away from the death penalty.
Reuters contributed to this report.