- Pope Leo XIV says capital punishment is “inadmissible” as he marked World Day Against the Death Penalty, reiterating Catholic teaching that it attacks human dignity.
- The pope's message coincided with the US Department of Defence announcing that the firing squad execution of Nidal Malik Hasan will be livestreamed on 3 December.
- Hasan was convicted of killing 13 people and wounding 32 others during a shooting at the Fort Hood military base in 2009.
- Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin strongly condemned the livestreaming plans, describing turning an execution into a spectacle as “unacceptable”.
- Archbishop Paul Coakley, head of the US bishops conference, also criticised the decision, calling it a “barbaric promotion of a culture of death”.
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