Trump administration, Pope Leo release same-day statements on death penalty

The Trump administration and Pope Leo XIV separately issued statements on the death penalty April 24. 

The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a series of steps to strengthen the federal death penalty, fulfilling a directive from President Donald Trump's first-day executive order on the topic. The moves include readopting the lethal injection protocol used during Trump's first term, expanding available execution methods to include the firing squad, and streamlining internal processes to expedite capital cases. 

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche framed the announcement as a correction of what he called the Biden administration's failure to protect the public. Blanche pointed to the Biden Justice Department's moratorium on executions and its decision to change the sentences of 37 of 40 federal death-row inmates.

In the coming weeks, the DOJ plans to propose rules limiting clemency petitions from death-row inmates and revising the Justice Manual to streamline the process for seeking capital sentences. The department has already authorized pursuing the death penalty against 44 defendants, with Blanche personally signing off on the deaths of nine.

Coincidentally, Pope Leo delivered a video message the same day, marking the 15th anniversary of the abolition of the death penalty in his home state of Illinois. 

“I offer my support to those who advocate for the abolition of the death penalty in the United States of America and around the world,” the Pope said to participants gathered at DePaul University in Chicago.

“The Catholic Church has consistently taught that each human life, from the moment of conception until natural death, is sacred and deserves to be protected,” he stated. “Indeed, the right to life is the very foundation of every other human right.  For this reason, only when a society safeguards the sanctity of human life will it flourish and prosper.” 

Drawing on the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Pope Leo emphasized that human dignity is not forfeited even after grave crimes have been committed, and that modern systems of detention are capable of protecting society without permanently foreclosing the possibility of redemption for the guilty. 

He noted that Pope Francis and his other recent predecessors had repeatedly held that the common good and the demands of justice can both be met without resorting to capital punishment, reaffirming the position that the death penalty is inadmissible and constitutes an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person.

The Pope concluded by expressing his personal support for the decision made by Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn in 2011 to abolish the death penalty.