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Catholic, Evangelical Leaders Condemn Pentagon's Execution Livestream Plan

9:08 AM ETConfirmed

Faith Desk

In Short: Archbishop Paul Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, condemned the Pentagon’s decision to livestream the execution.

Vice President JD Vance cast doubt on whether the Pentagon will livestream the execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan in December, telling reporters, 'I’m not going to be watching it if it is livestreamed.'

Archbishop Paul Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, condemned the Pentagon’s decision to livestream the execution, calling it a 'barbaric promotion of a culture of death.'

Republican Sen. John Curtis of Utah warned that livestreaming the execution could 'feed that appetite' for corrosive entertainment, drawing a parallel to Rome’s bloody spectacles of the past.

Lawmakers from both parties widely condemned the decision, with Sen. Thom Tillis calling it 'beyond disgusting.' Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski urged the Pentagon to reverse the 'gruesome decision,' emphasizing that how the U.S. carries out its system of justice matters.

President Donald Trump had previously endorsed Hasan’s execution by firing squad, stating, 'He deserves it.' However, when asked about livestreaming the execution, Trump was noncommittal.

Coakley and other religious leaders are joining evangelical faith leaders in condemning the Pentagon’s plan, urging officials to reconsider the decision.

The execution, if livestreamed, would be the first public American execution in nearly a century and the first military execution since 1961.

Republican Vice President JD Vance, a convert to the Catholic Church, which has long opposed capital punishment, expressed uncertainty about the livestreaming plans, saying, 'I don’t know that that’s actually going to happen.'

Trump told reporters, 'He will be killed. He will be, through firing squad,' but did not specify whether he wanted the execution to be livestreamed.

The Catholic Church’s stance on capital punishment has evolved, with Pope Francis emphasizing that the death penalty is 'inadmissible' and attacks the inherent dignity of a human being.

Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy, executive director of Catholic Mobilizing Network, stressed that while Hasan’s actions could not be condoned, the nation should not be 'blinded by bloodlust' and called the livestreaming plan 'appalling.'

What this adds

Background

What's confirmed

• Previously, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the official compendium of church teaching, said the church didn't exclude recourse to capital punishment "if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor."
• In a post on X, the American pope quoted the revised Catholic teaching on capital punishment ushered in by Pope Francis that the death penalty attacks the inherent dignity of a human being.

What's still developing

• “So whatever the controversy is about the method of the execution, I hope that people don’t forget that this is a guy who brutally murdered a lot of innocent people,” Vance said.
• “Well, they’re making a determination about that,” Trump told reporters before traveling to a political event in Syracuse, New York.
• 9) follows the announcement that the Pentagon will livestream the execution of Nidal Malik Hasan, an Army officer who also wounded 32 people during the 2009 shooting.
• A top Australian Catholic bishop has acknowledged the eight-year delay in bringing a fellow bishop to justice on charges he sexually abused young Indigenous men.
• “But broadcasting his execution is beneath the dignity & decency of our nation,” he wrote on social media.
• This spring, the Justice Department announced it would adopt firing squads and reauthorize a single-drug lethal injection protocol in death penalty executions on the same day that Pope Leo XIV publicly voiced his support to abolish capital punishment in the United States, reiterating the Catholic Church's teaching that the death penalty is "inadmissible."
• “Now, that said, I mean, look, if it’s ultimately livestreamed, I’m not going to be watching it,” he added.

Sources

• Crux | Taking the Catholic Pulselink
• Religionnewslink
• Straight Arrowlink
• finchannellink
• Abc7Chicagolink
• Kdhnewslink
• Rolling Stonelink
• Colombiaonelink
• Newschannel9link
• Ncronlinelink
• Thespeclink
• AP Newslink
• WarpBeat — background on Pentagon to Livestream Fort Hood Shooter's Execution by Firing Squad link
• WarpBeat — background on Trump Approves Execution of Fort Hood Shooter Hasan link