Pope Leo XIV declared capital punishment “inadmissible” on Saturday, marking the World Day Against the Death Penalty from Rome, just as his native United States announced plans to livestream an execution by firing squad. Under his official handle @Pontifex, the pope shared a message quoting the revised Catholic teaching established by Pope Francis, which argues that the death penalty attacks the inherent dignity of a human being.
“The common good can be safeguarded and the requirements of justice can be met without recourse to capital punishment,” the post stated. “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 statement concluded with the hashtag #NoDeathPenalty.
The U.S. Defense Department announced on Thursday that the firing squad execution of Nidal Malik Hasan is scheduled for Dec. 3 at the Fort Hood military base. Hasan was convicted of killing 13 people and wounding 32 others during a 2009 shooting at the military base.
Vatican Condemns the Spectacle of Public Execution
Hours before the pope’s social media post, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, issued a rebuke of the plans. Speaking to Vatican News, Parolin described the decision to livestream the execution as “truly incomprehensible” and “unacceptable to turn death into a spectacle.”
“The Church’s position is one of total opposition to the death penalty; it is incompatible with human dignity and serves as no deterrent—,” Parolin said. He added that it is “unacceptable to turn death into a spectacle; even if the person is guilty, of course, there are other methods.”
Archbishop Paul Coakley, head of the U.S. bishops conference, expressed “shock” and “great sorrow” in a statement released on Friday. Coakley argued that the decision is a “barbaric promotion of a culture of death” and that “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.”
Evolution of Church Teaching on Capital Punishment
The theological framework underpinning Pope Leo’s declaration traces back to 2018, when Pope Francis amended official Catholic teaching to declare capital punishment “inadmissible” in all circumstances.
Previously, the Catechism of the Catholic Church said the church didn’t exclude recourse to capital punishment “if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor.” While St. John Paul II began urging an end to the practice and stressed that guilty people were just as deserving of dignity as innocent ones, Francis amended the teaching.
Like Francis before him, Leo has made visiting prisons a key part of his papal travel. Earlier in April, Leo visited the notorious Bata prison in Equatorial Guinea to deliver a message of hope to inmates. “If any of you fear being abandoned by everyone, know that God will never abandon you, and that the church will stand by your side,” he told the prisoners, ahead of another scheduled prison visit in Buenos Aires.
The Domestic Debate Intensifies
The timing of the Vatican’s statements coincides with renewed domestic scrutiny over capital punishment in the United States. The controversy surrounding the upcoming military execution follows a botched lethal injection in Tennessee last week that has revived debate over the death penalty.
Although Pope Leo did not refer specifically to the planned execution or the events in Tennessee, the Vatican’s statements come as the Holy See and American military authorities are at odds over the limits of state-sanctioned punishment.
