ABSTRACT

The archbishop for the U.S. military, Timothy P. Broglio, released a statement on Monday, October 12, 2026, expressing disapproval of the proposed livestreamed firing-squad execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan and saying Catholic service members assigned to participate should ask to be excused. Hasan, a former Army psychiatrist convicted by court-martial in 2013 and sentenced to death for killing 13 people and injuring more than 30 at the Army installation in Fort Hood, Texas, is to be executed in December under a plan Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced last week to make the execution publicly viewable.

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Military archbishop asks Catholic troops be excused from Hasan execution

Oct 12, 2026, 5:00 PM

Context

Broglio's statement was the latest pushback against Hegseth's plan. The source states that the plan has drawn criticism from members of both parties, including a growing number of congressional Republicans. The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Hasan was convicted by court-martial in 2013 and sentenced to death for killing 13 people and injuring more than 30 at the Army installation in Fort Hood, Texas. The former Army psychiatrist acknowledged at trial that he was responsible for the shooting, claiming he opened fire on fellow service members in an attempt to protect Islamic insurgents from the U.S. military.

The source states that Hasan's case could mark the U.S. military's first execution of an American since 1961 and its first use of a firing squad since 1945, and that firing squads are also rare in civilian courts. Publicly viewable executions are described as virtually unheard of in modern U.S. history; the source states the country's last large-scale public execution appeared to take place 90 years ago, when Rainey Bethea was hanged for rape in front of a crowd of about 20,000 in Kentucky. Other countries believed to carry out public executions include Iran, Afghanistan and North Korea, according to the source.

Three days before Broglio's statement, Pope Leo XIV wrote on social media that the death penalty is "inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person." The source states the pope did not explicitly reference Hasan's planned execution or the botched lethal-injection execution of Christa Pike, and that his post coincided with the World Day Against the Death Penalty.

All Perspectives

Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio: Broglio said he released the statement to "express my disapproval of what is proposed regarding the execution of the terrorist Hasan." He pointed to the Catholic Church's opposition to the death penalty and warned of "moral injury" to service members tasked with carrying out the execution. "The US military generally enjoys a good reputation in the world," he 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? Does this decision reflect the dignity of the human person?" He also asked: "do we really want to imitate the terrorists of this world and make a public spectacle of barbarically killing our adversaries?"

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth: Hegseth said last week that the military plans to make the execution public "because people need to understand that there's serious consequences for these types of things."

Pope Leo XIV: The pope wrote on social media that the death penalty is "inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person." The source states he did not explicitly reference Hasan's planned execution or the botched lethal-injection execution of Christa Pike.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski: Murkowski, of Alaska, said: "I would expect this from terrorists and dictators, but not here in America."

Sen. Kevin Cramer: Cramer, of North Dakota, said the "death penalty is not entertainment."

House Speaker Mike Johnson: Johnson told CBS News that some of his House Republican colleagues have "concerns," which he plans to bring to the White House. "The concern would be that you would create a video that would be a recruiting tool for future terrorists. You know, we've got to think through the policy implications of all that," he told CBS News' Robert Costa. "I wouldn't be watching it if it was aired. But there's a lot of opinions on that. I think there's still some time to talk about that."

Vice President JD Vance: Vance, who is Catholic, told reporters last week that "if it's ultimately livestreamed, I'm not going to be watching it."

Position not represented in the source reporting: Nidal Hasan, the condemned prisoner whose execution is at issue, whose current position or response is not stated in the source.

Gaps & Unknowns

The source does not state the specific date in December set for Hasan's execution.
The source does not state how many congressional Republicans oppose the plan, identifying only Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Kevin Cramer by name and referring otherwise to unnamed colleagues cited by House Speaker Mike Johnson.
The source does not state the White House's position on the livestream, which Johnson said he planned to bring colleagues' concerns to.
The source does not state whether Catholic service members who ask to be excused from the execution would face any consequence.
The source does not state what the means of livestreaming the execution would be.
The source does not state when the lethal-injection execution of Christa Pike took place or what made it botched.

Sources & Further Reading

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