U.S. Catholic bishops condemn ‘barbaric’ plan to livestream military execution

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) condemned Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s announcement that the military execution of the Fort Hood mass shooter, Nidal Hasan, will be livestreamed for the public to view.

“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 Paul S. Coakley, president of the USCCB, said in a statement on Oct. 9.

“Our God is the God of life,” he said. “In no way can Hasan’s actions be condoned but this decision is a barbaric promotion of a culture of death and must be reconsidered.”

Coakley quoted Romans 12:17 , which commands: “Do not repay anyone evil for evil.”

“The public execution even of one who has done grave harm will only further undermine the moral fabric of our nation and be a blight on the conscience of its people,” the archbishop said. “I pray for the intercession of Our Lady of Good Counsel that we as a nation may always choose life even in the most trying times and circumstances.”

Hasan, a man from Arlington, Virginia, was convicted of murdering 13 people and injuring 32 others in a mass shooting at Fort Hood in Killeen,…