Archbishop serving US military urges Catholics be excused from proposed firing squad execution

Stephanie Scarbrough/AP

The archbishop assigned to serve Catholics in the US military strongly condemned the Pentagon’s plan to livestream a firing squad execution and said Monday that Catholic personnel should not participate.

“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,” Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio wrote in a statement , marking the latest dispute between the Trump administration and the Catholic Church .

His comments came after he met with Pope Leo on Monday. The pontiff himself strongly condemned the death penalty over the weekend, consistent with the church’s opposition to capital punishment but also coming after the relatively new pope has already clashed with US President Donald Trump over issues of war, immigration and press freedom.

Last week, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced in a podcast interview that the execution of the convicted Fort Hood mass shooter Nidal Hasan would be shown in public . A Pentagon official later said the execution “will be livestreamed.”

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Army caught off guard by Hegseth’s order to make firing squad execution public

The decision to livestream a public firing squad execution was swiftly met with bipartisan concern and opposition — including from Republican members of Congress — as well as widespread condemnation from world leaders.

He also made clear he felt for the loved ones of those impacted by Hasan’s 2009 mass shooting that killed 13 people, adding that he presided at the funeral for one of the victims of the attack.

“I renew my expression of heartfelt sympathy to the families and friends of those who died in the attack at Fort Hood,” Broglio wrote. “It was an attack that disregarded the dignity of the human person.”

Broglio questioned the purpose of making such an event public, calling on “all men and women of good will” to “do what is possible to keep the exposure to the live-streaming of the proposed execution from the vision of the young and impressionable.”

“Will the exposure of a live-stream to the young and impressionable during the 250th anniversary year of our independence be able to be repaired?” Broglio asked in his statement. “The US military generally enjoys a good reputation in the world. 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?”

Stephanie Scarbrough/美联社

负责为美国军方天主教徒服务的大主教强烈谴责五角大楼计划直播枪决，并于周一表示，天主教人员不应参与其中。

“就像在堕胎的情况下一样，我要求任何被派往行刑队的天主教徒请求免于执行这项违背教会教义的行动，”蒂莫西·P·布罗格里奥大主教在一份声明中写道，这标志着特朗普政府和天主教会之间最新的争端。

他的这番言论是在周一与教宗利奥会面之后发表的。教宗本人在周末强烈谴责了死刑，这与教会反对死刑的立场一致，但此前这位相对年轻的教宗已经就战争、移民和新闻自由等问题与美国总统唐纳德·特朗普发生过冲突。

上周，美国国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯在一次播客采访中宣布，对被判犯有胡德堡大规模枪击案的凶手尼达尔·哈桑的死刑执行将公开进行。五角大楼一名官员随后表示，死刑执行“将进行直播”。

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赫格塞斯下令公开枪决过程，令军队措手不及。

公开直播枪决的决定迅速引起了两党人士的关注和反对——包括来自国会共和党议员的反对——以及世界各国领导人的广泛谴责。

他还明确表示，他对2009年哈桑制造的造成13人死亡的大规模枪击案的受害者家属深表同情，并补充说，他主持了其中一名受害者的葬礼。

布罗格里奥写道：“我再次向在胡德堡袭击事件中遇难者的家属和朋友表达最深切的慰问。这是一起漠视人类尊严的袭击。”

布罗格里奥质疑将此类事件公开的目的，呼吁“所有善良的人们”“尽一切可能阻止年轻人和易受影响的人看到拟议的处决的现场直播”。

布罗格里奥在声明中问道：“在我国独立250周年之际，向年轻且易受影响的人群直播处决画面，这样的后果还能弥补吗？美国军方在世界上通常享有良好的声誉。向全世界直播一名坐在轮椅上的人被处决的画面，真的有价值吗？这岂不是把他们和恐怖分子相提并论吗？”