US archbishop says Catholics in army should not participate in firing squad

Archbishop Timothy Broglio says the US plan to livestream the execution of the Fort Hood attacker is contrary to church’s teachings.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has framed plans for a livestreamed execution as deterrence [File: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters]

United States Archbishop Timothy Broglio has urged Catholics who are members of the country’s armed forces not to take part in a planned public execution by firing squad, saying that it violates the teachings of the church.

Broglio released a strongly worded statement on Monday raising a series of concerns about the US military’s plan to livestream the execution of Nidal Hasan, a former army major who killed 13 people during a shooting attack at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009.

list 1 of 3 ‘Barbaric’: US lawmakers condemn plan to livestream Nidal Hasan’s execution

list 2 of 3 Pope says death penalty ‘inadmissible’ as US plans to livestream execution

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“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.

He also asked whether the US wants to “imitate the terrorists of this world and make a public spectacle of barbarically killing our adversaries”.

The plan to livestream the execution on December 3 was announced last week by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who characterised the spectacle as deterrence.

“We’ll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it’s public, because people need to understand that there are serious consequences for these types of things,” Hegseth told the right-wing media outlet Real America’s Voice.

But the proposal has sparked backlash from lawmakers , rights groups and critics who warn that a publicly broadcast killing is not only unethical but could also be used as anti-US propaganda.

Hasan, now aged 56, was shot by the police during the 2009 Fort Hood attack and is now wheelchair-bound. Critics fear livestreaming Hasan’s death could turn him into a symbol for armed groups that may be hostile to the US.

Cardinal Blase J Cupich, the archbishop of Chicago, also condemned the plan to livestream the execution in a social media post on Monday, questioning the example it could set for children.

“Capital punishment is unacceptable in any case,” he said. “The planned broadcast of the taking of a life by firing squad is nothing short of performative barbarism. Do we really want our children, who will inevitably view it, exposed to the pornography of a state-sponsored slaying?”

Hegseth has said he wants the execution to take place at the same time and location as the 2009 shooting spree, and described using military members to carry out the death penalty.

“It hadn’t been since World War II since we’ve done that,” Hegseth said of the firing squad. “Well, I kind of like the mentality we had in World War II, which was win.”

The last US military execution by firing squad was of Eddie Slovik, who was accused of desertion in 1945. He was the only US soldier to have such a sentence carried out for abandoning his post.

In Monday’s statement, Broglio also questioned the reasoning behind putting service members on camera to carry out Hasan’s death. He hinted that it could harm the US military’s image abroad.

“The US military generally enjoys a good reputation in the world,” Broglio wrote. “Is there really a value to throwing them in the same boat with terrorists by broadcasting the image of the execution of a man in a wheel chair to the whole world?”

Without mentioning Hasan’s case specifically, Pope Leo also released a statement on Saturday condemning the death penalty.

“The death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person,” he said in a social media post.

“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.”

President Donald Trump , who oversaw an unprecedented spike in federal executions during his first term in office, has approved Hasan’s execution.

Still, on Saturday, he indicated that he has not decided whether to proceed with a livestream.

“There are two thoughts: Don’t show it and show it. Because, you know, by showing it, maybe other people won’t be doing what he did,” Trump told reporters. “I’ll make a decision.”

Since the start of his second term as president, Trump has pushed for the increased use of the federal death penalty. In April, he also approved additional methods to carry out the death penalty, including the firing squad.

In the past, Trump has also floated the death penalty as a punishment for crimes ranging from drug dealing to sedition, a term he has invoked against political rivals .

蒂莫西·布罗格里奥大主教表示，美国计划直播处决胡德堡袭击者的做法违背了教会的教义。

美国国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯将直播处决计划包装成一种威慑手段。[图片：乔纳森·恩斯特/路透社]

美国大主教蒂莫西·布罗格里奥敦促该国武装部队中的天主教徒不要参与计划中的公开枪决，称这违反了教会的教义。

布罗格里奥周一发表了一份措辞强烈的声明，对美国军方计划直播处决尼达尔·哈桑（Nidal Hasan）表示了一系列担忧。哈桑曾是陆军少校，2009 年在德克萨斯州胡德堡的一次枪击事件中造成 13 人死亡。

列表 1/3 “野蛮”：美国议员谴责直播尼达尔·哈桑死刑执行的计划

教皇称死刑“不可接受”，美国计划直播死刑执行（共3条，此为第2条）。

克丽斯塔·派克案（共3起）凸显了美国死刑执行失败的普遍性。

布罗格里奥说：“我要求任何被派往行刑队的罗马天主教徒请求免于执行这项违背教会教义的行动。”

他还质问美国是否想“效仿世界上的恐怖分子，公开野蛮地杀害我们的敌人”。

国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯上周宣布了将于 12 月 3 日直播处决的计划，他将这一举动描述为一种威慑。

“我们会确保人们能够看到它，确保它是公开的，因为人们需要明白，这类事情会带来严重的后果，”赫格塞斯告诉右翼媒体“真正的美国之声”。

但该提议引发了立法者、人权组织和批评人士的强烈反对，他们警告说，公开直播杀戮不仅不道德，而且还可能被用作反美宣传。

现年56岁的哈桑在2009年胡德堡袭击事件中被警方击毙，目前只能依靠轮椅出行。批评人士担心，直播哈桑的死亡可能会使他成为敌视美国的武装团体的象征。

芝加哥大主教布莱斯·J·库皮奇枢机主教周一也在社交媒体上发帖谴责了直播行刑的计划，并质疑这会给孩子们树立怎样的榜样。

“死刑在任何情况下都是不可接受的，”他说。“计划直播枪决的过程，简直就是作秀式的野蛮行径。我们真的希望我们的孩子——他们必然会看到这段视频——接触到国家支持的杀戮这种色情内容吗？”

赫格塞斯曾表示，他希望在与 2009 年枪击案相同的时间和地点执行死刑，并描述了使用军方人员执行死刑的情况。

“自从二战以来，我们就没再用过这种处决方式了，”赫格塞斯谈到枪决时说。“嗯，我挺喜欢二战时期那种一心求胜的心态。”

美国最后一次使用枪决处决军事人员是埃迪·斯洛维克，他于 1945 年被指控犯有逃兵罪。他是唯一一位因擅离职守而被执行枪决的美国士兵。

布罗格里奥在周一的声明中还质疑了让军人拍摄哈桑死亡过程的合理性。他暗示这可能会损害美军在海外的形象。

布罗格里奥写道：“美国军方在世界上通常享有良好的声誉。将他们与恐怖分子相提并论，向全世界播放处决一名坐在轮椅上的人的画面，真的有价值吗？”

虽然没有具体提及哈桑的案件，但教宗利奥十世周六也发表声明谴责死刑。

他在社交媒体上发帖称：“死刑是不可接受的，因为它侵犯了人不可侵犯的尊严。”

“无需诉诸死刑，也能维护公共利益并满足正义的要求：已经建立了有效的拘留制度，既能保护公民，又不会完全剥夺罪犯改过自新的可能性。”

唐纳德·特朗普总统在其第一个任期内，联邦政府执行死刑的数量出现了前所未有的激增，而他已经批准了对哈桑的死刑。

不过，他在周六表示，他尚未决定是否进行直播。

“我有两个想法：要么不公开，要么公开。因为，你知道，公开之后，也许其他人就不会效仿他了，”特朗普告诉记者。“我会做出决定。”

自特朗普第二个总统任期开始以来，他一直力推增加联邦死刑的使用。今年4月，他还批准了更多执行死刑的方式，包括枪决。

过去，特朗普也曾提出对从贩毒到煽动叛乱等各种罪行处以死刑，他曾用“煽动叛乱”一词来攻击政治对手。