The archbishop for the U.S. military on Monday urged Catholic soldiers to recuse themselves from the firing squad tasked with carrying out the execution of convicted Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan, emphasizing the Catholic Church’s opposition to the death penalty.
Timothy Broglio, who oversees pastoral care of service members and military chaplains, released a statement in which he advised Catholic service members to request sitting out of the firing squad for Hasan’s execution by firing squad and condemned War Secretary Pete Hegseth’s plans to livestream the event.
Broglio announced his alignment with Bishop Daniel E. Garcia, whose diocese includes Fort Hood, in opposing the execution. Garcia released a statement earlier on Monday in which he said the firing squad execution would “exacerbate that trauma” caused by Hasan’s actions that killed 13 people at the central Texas Army base in 2009.
“As I would in the case of a procured abortion, 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.
Hegseth first announced plans to livestream Hasan’s execution last week, but President Donald Trump has since said a decision on whether to broadcast the event will be his.
Broglio said that livestreaming the execution would “imitate” terrorist organizations that have released videos of executions.
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“Do we really want to imitate the terrorists of this world and make a public spectacle of barbarically killing our adversaries?” he said. “The crime committed by Nidal Malik Hasan was heinous, but does exposing the public to his execution serve any purpose? Has the potential moral injury, which the members of the firing squad might experience, been considered?”
Broglio’s opposition follows Pope Leo XIV reaffirming the church’s opposition to capital punishment, calling the death penalty “inadmissible” in a social media post marking the World Day Against the Death Penalty. While the pope did not address Hasan’s execution directly, he made the remarks shortly after news broke about Hegseth’s intention to broadcast it.
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
