Pope Leo XIV says death penalty is an attack on human dignity

Pope Leo XIV has reaffirmed the Catholic Church’s opposition to capital punishment, saying the death penalty is an attack on human dignity and unnecessary to protect society.

“The death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person,” the Pope wrote on his official X account Oct. 10, a date Vatican News noted is also World Day Against the Death Penalty.

In the post, Pope Leo said the common good and the demands of justice can be met without executions, pointing to detention systems that protect the public while preserving the possibility of redemption for those convicted of serious crimes.

“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,” he said in the post.

The Pope’s statement came amid criticism of the planned execution of Nidal Hasan, who was convicted of killing 13 people and wounding 32 others at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009, according to Vatican News.

A military court sentenced Hassan to death in 2013. The Pentagon announced earlier in October, as Zeale News previously reported, that his execution by firing squad is scheduled for Dec. 3, though further legal proceedings could cause delays.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, criticized plans for the execution to be livestreamed.

“It is certainly unacceptable to turn death into a spectacle,” Cardinal Parolin said Oct. 9, according to Vatican News. “However guilty the person may be, there are other ways.”

He also said the death penalty is “incompatible with human dignity and does not serve as a deterrent,” the news outlet reported.

As Zeale News previously reported, Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, also urged officials to reconsider the execution.

“It is with shock and great sorrow that I have learned of the Department of War’s decision to publicly livestream the execution of Nidal Hasan,” Archbishop Coakley said in a statement. “Our God is the God of life. In no way can Hassan’s actions be condoned, but this decision is a barbaric promotion of a culture of death and must be reconsidered.”