His statement comes after the US announced plans to livestream the firing squad execution of Nidal Hasan.
Pope Leo XIV called the death penalty “inadmissible” as he marked the World Day Against the Death Penalty.
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. #NoDeathPenalty,” the pope wrote on X . President Donald Trump has approved the use of a firing squad to execute Hasan , convicted in the 2009 massacre at Fort Hood in Texas. On Monday, October 5, the Pentagon announced on social media that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recommended death by firing squad for Hasan, which Trump approved. Pike, 50, was sentenced to death in 1996 in connection with the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer . Pike was 20 at the time. Howard was convicted and sentenced to death for the 2000 murder of a convenience store clerk during a robbery committed by him. He was 20 years old when he shot Vickie Swartout, 42, who was working at a convenience store in Texas. Howard stole a carton of cigarettes and $114 from the register.
Because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person, “The death penalty is inadmissible.
