Catholics in US Army must not take part in firing squad, armed forces archbishop says

Catholics serving in the US Army should not take part in the firing squad execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan that the Pentagon is planning to live stream on December 3, a prominent US archbishop said on Monday.

In an unusually strongly worded statement, Archbishop Timothy Broglio, who oversees the spiritual care of ‌Catholic members of the US armed forces, raised a series of objections to the unprecedented plan to broadcast the execution of Hasan, who killed 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas, in a 2009 shooting spree.

Broglio said he presided at the funeral of one of Hasan’s victims and lamented the shooting. But the Ohio-born archbishop asked whether the US wanted to “imitate the terrorists of this world and make a public spectacle of barbarically killing our adversaries”.

“I oblige any Catholics assigned to ⁠the firing squad to request to be excused from this action contrary to the teaching of the church,” Broglio said.

US Army regulations do ‌allow for soldiers to request religious exemptions or accommodations and the army has yet to say how it intends to select members of the firing squad.

US Defence Secretary Pete ‌Hegseth announced plans to live stream the shooting last week, triggering a backlash among Republicans in Congress, religious leaders and ⁠international observers. US President Donald ⁠Trump approved Hasan’s execution by firing squad but has said he is still deciding whether to allow the live streaming to proceed.

The event would be extraordinary, even for ‌a country that has long employed capital punishment. A government execution has never been broadcast or live streamed, according to death penalty experts, and the US military has not executed anyone ‌by ‌firing squad since 1945. Hasan, now 56, requires a wheelchair, having been shot by police during his arrest.

Hegseth said last week he ‌wants US soldiers to execute Hasan at the time, day of the week and location of Hasan’s shooting spree. Hegseth has argued ⁠that making the event public will help serve as a deterrent.

Broglio questioned whether the effect of a live streamed execution on young viewers ⁠had been considered. He said the US military had a good reputation and asked if there was “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”.

Broglio’s ‌statement was issued soon after he met Pope Leo in Rome on Monday. Leo has clashed with Trump and his Pentagon over issues including the Iran war. Leo on Saturday condemned the death penalty, without mentioning the Hasan case specifically.

US Vice-President J.D. Vance, a convert to Catholicism, has said that if it does ultimately get live streamed, he would not watch it.