Controversy Over Live Broadcast of US Firing Squad Execution... Pope Says "Death Penalty Is an Attack on Human Dignity"

On the 10th (local time), marking the 24th World Day Against the Death Penalty, Pope Leo XIV emphasized that "the death penalty cannot be permitted as it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of human person."

In a message posted on his official X (formerly Twitter) account that day, the Pope stated, "We can defend the common good and satisfy the demands of justice without resorting to the death penalty.

Effective detention systems have developed that protect citizens while not completely depriving those convicted of the possibility of redemption."

The Pope's post ended with the hashtag "#NoDeathPenalty."

In his post that day, the Pope did not explicitly mention the recent failed lethal injection execution in Tennessee, which reignited the death penalty debate in the US, or the US Department of Defense's plan to broadcast the firing squad execution of Nidal Malik Hasan, who carried out the 2009 Texas military base shooting.

However, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican Secretary of State, explicitly criticized the US plan to live-broadcast the execution, calling it "unacceptable."

Cardinal Parolin stated, "It is truly incomprehensible," adding, "Making death a spectacle is unacceptable."

Archbishop Paul Coakley, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, also expressed "shock" and "deep sadness" over the US Defense Department's plan, stating, "Public executions only further undermine the moral fabric of our society and leave a stain on the public conscience," according to the Associated Press.

Regarding the live broadcast of Hasan's firing squad execution, US President Donald Trump said that there are pros and cons, adding, "I will make the final decision."

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.