Pope Leo XIV condemns the death penalty, while the US prepares to broadcast an execution live

Pope Leo XIV declared on Saturday that the death penalty is “inadmissible,” in a message delivered on the occasion of World Day Against the Death Penalty. The Pontiff reaffirmed the position of the Catholic Church, according to which capital punishment violates the inherent dignity of every human being.

The message was published on the X platform during the same period in which the U.S. Department of Defense intends to broadcast live the execution of Nidal Malik Hasan. He was convicted of killing 13 people and wounding another 32 in the attack at the Fort Hood military base in 2009. The execution is scheduled for December 3, in Texas.

Pope Leo did not directly refer to the case in the United States, but the Vatican’s secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, explicitly criticized the plan, stating that it is “unacceptable to turn death into a spectacle.”

Pope Leo XIV argued that protecting society and fulfilling the requirements of justice are possible without resorting to capital punishment. He pointed out that detention systems can protect citizens while preserving the possibility of salvation for those convicted.

The current pope’s position continues the direction established by Pope Francis, who amended the Catechism of the Catholic Church in 2018 to declare the death penalty inadmissible in all cases.