Pope Leo condemns death penalty as Trump ponders live-streamed execution

• Pope Leo said the death penalty is wrong because it violates human dignity and removes the chance of redemption, on the World Day Against the Death Penalty.
• The US military plans to live-stream the firing squad execution of Nidal Hasan, who killed 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009, in a first since 1945.
• The plan has sparked strong opposition, while Donald Trump has not decided and J.D. Vance said he would not watch the broadcast.

ROME - Pope Leo renewed his condemnation of the death penalty on Oct 10, saying it violates the sanctity of human life and deprives people of the chance of redemption, days after the Pentagon said it planned to live-stream an execution.

The US military will live-stream the upcoming firing squad execution of a gunman who killed 13 people at the Fort Hood military base in 2009, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Oct 8, in what would be an unprecedented broadcast of a US execution.

“The common good can be safeguarded and the requirements of justice can be met without recourse to capital punishment,” Leo, the first pope from the United States, said in a social media post, without mentioning the Pentagon plan.

“The death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person,” he added in the message posted on the World Day Against the Death Penalty.

Nidal Hasan, a former Army psychiatrist, is set to become the first person to be executed by firing squad by the US military since 1945.

The livestream plan, championed by Hegseth, has drawn opposition from lawmakers, including from President Donald Trump’s Republicans, religious leaders and international observers.

Trump himself has said he has not yet decided whether to allow the live feed, while Vice-President J.D. Vance, who is a Catholic, expressed scepticism over whether the Pentagon would proceed with livestreaming the scheduled Dec 3 execution.

Vance also said he would not watch the livestream if it went ahead.

The execution plan comes amid heightened debate in the US over the death penalty following a botched lethal injection of a Tennessee woman last week. REUTERS