Pope Leo condemns death penalty as Trump mulls livestreamed execution

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ROME - Pope Leo renewed his condemnation of the death penalty on Saturday, saying it violates the sanctity of human life and deprives people of the chance of redemption, days after the Pentagon said it planned to livestream an execution.

The US military will livestream the upcoming firing squad execution of a gunman who killed 13 people at the Fort Hood military base in 2009, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Thursday, in what would be an unprecedented broadcast of a US execution.

"The common good can be safeguarded and the requirements of justice can be met without recourse to capital punishment," Leo, the first pope from the United States, said in a social media post, without mentioning the Pentagon plan.

The death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person. 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. #NoDeathPenalty

— Pope Leo XIV (@Pontifex) October 10, 2026

"The death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person," he added in the message posted on the World Day Against the Death Penalty.

Nidal Hasan, a former Army psychiatrist, is set to become the first person to be executed by firing squad by the US military since 1945.

The livestream plan, championed by Hegseth, has drawn opposition from lawmakers, including from President Donald Trump's Republicans, religious leaders and international observers.

Trump himself has said he has not yet decided whether to allow the live feed, while Vice President JD Vance, who is a Catholic, expressed scepticism over whether the Pentagon would proceed with livestreaming the scheduled December 3 execution.

Vance also said he would not watch the livestream if it went ahead.

The execution plan comes amid heightened debate in the US over the death penalty following a botched lethal injection of a Tennessee woman last week. —Reuters