Skip to content

Pope Leo XIV declares death penalty inadmissible amid US livestream plans

newsOct 10, 2026251,535

Pope Leo XIV declared capital punishment “inadmissible” on World Day Against the Death Penalty, citing revised Catholic teaching that the death penalty attacks human dignity and saying justice and the common good can be secured without it. The pope posted the statement on his official account and closed with the hashtag #NoDeathPenalty. The U.S. Defense Department announced plans to livestream a firing-squad execution of Nidal Malik Hasan at Fort Hood on Dec. 3; Hasan was convicted of killing 13 people and wounding 32 in the 2009 attack. Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, called the planned livestream “truly incomprehensible” and said it is “unacceptable to turn death into a spectacle.” Leo did not mention the planned execution or a recent botched lethal injection in Tennessee by name, but the timing drew direct comment from his top deputy. Leo has continued the emphasis on prisoners and redemption in his papacy, visiting prisons on trips and planning a prison visit in Buenos Aires on his upcoming Latin America tour.

Jack Jenkins
@jackjenkins.me

One day after the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the National Association of Evangelicals came out against the Pentagon’s plan to livestream an execution, Pope Leo has published a tweet reiterating the Catholic Church’s opposition to the death penalty.

Pope Leo XIV • @Pontifex• •4h
X
The death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person. 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.
6213h ago
Leah McElrath
@leahmcelrath.bsky.social

POPE LEO: “The death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person. The common good can be safeguarded and the requirements of justice can be met without recourse to capital punishment…”

Pope Leo XIV 
@Pontifex
X.com
The death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person.
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
6:30 AM • 10/10/26 • 217K Views
2817h ago
3 sources