A military archbishop is urging enlisted Catholics to recuse themselves from the execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan.
Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio issued his own orders to America’s military members Monday, imploring them not to participate in Hasan’s death, either by being in the firing squad or by watching Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s planned livestream.
“I oblige any Catholics assigned to the firing squad to request to be excused from this action contrary to the teaching of the Church,” Broglio said in a statement.
Broglio said he opposed capital punishment—in line with the stance of the larger church—and that Hegseth’s plan would “imitate the terrorists” by making a “public spectacle of barbarically killing our adversaries.”
“The Catechism was already clear and Pope Francis made it even clearer. The dignity of the human person is again at stake,” Broglio noted.
Hasan opened fire on Fort Hood in 2009, killing 13 people and injuring 32 others at a processing facility readying troops for deployment in Afghanistan. Hasan was an Army psychiatrist at the time.
Last week, Donald Trump paved the way for the military to execute Hasan by firing squad, marking the first time since World War II that the military is expected to use the method. Shortly thereafter, Hegseth pledged the December 23 event would be livestreamed—a decision that has faced nationwide bipartisan blowback from the public as much as the streaming companies expected to host the state-sponsored brutality.
“The crime committed by Nidal Malik Hasan was heinous, but does exposing the public to his execution serve any purpose?” questioned Broglio in his statement. “Has the potential moral injury, which the members of the firing squad might experience, been considered? Will the exposure of a live-stream to the young and impressionable during the 250th anniversary year of our independence be able to be repaired?
“The US military generally enjoys a good reputation in the world. 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 continued, calling “upon all men and women of good will” to prompt the government to reverse its decision.
Hegseth, who has deeply infused his leadership of the Pentagon with his right-wing Christianity, has not yet responded to Broglio.