Archbishop Timothy Broglio, head of all pastoral services to Catholics serving in the U.S. military, said that his fellow churchmen cannot participate in the upcoming firing squad of Nidal Hasan.
Controversy erupted last week when Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the Pentagon will be livestreaming Hasan’s execution, which has been scheduled for December 3. Hasan was convicted and sentenced to death for the 2009 shooting at Fort Hood that killed 14 people — 12 U.S. Army soldiers, one civilian, and an unborn child. Another 33 were injured.
In a statement on Monday, Broglio said that Catholics who serve on the firing squad would be going against church teaching, taking particular issue with the proposed livestream.
“I renew my expression of heartfelt sympathy to the families and friends of those who died in the attack at Fort Hood. It was an attack that disregarded the dignity of the human person. I had the sad duty of presiding and preaching at the funeral of Michael Grant Cahill, the only civilian killed in that attack,” said Broglio.
“Secondly, I repeat the opposition of the Catholic Church to capital punishment. The Catechism was already clear and Pope Francis made it even clearer. The dignity of the human person is again at stake,” he continued.
During his pontificate, Pope Francis affirmed the teachings of his predecessors, Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, that the death penalty was “inadmissible” due to modern methods of imprisonment, and he revised the Catechism to reflect that. Pope Leo XIV has also affirmed the teachings of his predecessors on the death penalty during his pontificate.
In his statement, Broglio said that livestreaming the execution of Nidal Hasan has the potential for “moral injury” while imploring Catholics in the military to excuse themselves from participating in the firing squad.
“I call upon all men and women of good will to ask that this decision be reconsidered and, at the very least, do what is possible to keep the exposure to the live-streaming of the proposed execution from the vision of the young and impressionable,” he concluded. “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’s statement comes days after the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops said that livestreaming Hasan’s execution will “undermine the moral fabric of our nation and be a blight on the conscience of its people.”
