US Military Archbishop Urges Catholic Soldiers to Refuse Firing Squad Duty
Archbishop Timothy Broglio, who oversees Catholic pastoral care for US military personnel, has condemned the planned livestream of Nidal Hasan's firing squad execution and said Catholic soldiers assigned to the squad should seek exemption, calling the duty contrary to church teaching.
Archbishop Timothy Broglio, the Catholic Church's top pastoral leader for US military personnel, has called on Catholic soldiers to refuse assignment to the firing squad scheduled to execute Nidal Hasan, the former Army psychiatrist convicted of killing 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009. In a statement issued Monday, Broglio said any Catholic service member detailed to the firing squad should ask to be excused from that duty, which he described as incompatible with the teachings of the church.
Broglio's intervention comes as Hasan is scheduled to be executed by firing squad on December 3, with authorities planning to livestream the proceedings. The archbishop condemned that plan directly, questioning what public purpose it could serve. He recalled that he presided over the funeral of Michael Grant Cahill, the only civilian killed in the Fort Hood attack, underscoring his personal connection to the victims of the shooting.
«The crime committed by Hasan was heinous, but does exposing the public to his execution serve any purpose?» Broglio asked in his statement. He also warned that broadcasting the execution could damage the reputation of the US armed forces. «The US military generally enjoys a good reputation in the world,» he said. «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 wheelchair to the whole world?»
Hasan, who has been paralyzed since the 2009 attack and uses a wheelchair, was convicted in a military court and sentenced to death. His execution by firing squad would be a rare method in modern US military practice, and the decision to allow a livestream has drawn criticism from religious and human rights advocates alike.
Broglio joins a growing group of Catholic leaders speaking out against both the death penalty and the broadcast plans. The Catholic Church's opposition to capital punishment has become increasingly explicit in recent decades, with church teaching emphasizing the dignity of human life and the possibility of redemption even for those who have committed grave crimes. For Catholic soldiers, the question of participation in an execution poses a direct conflict between military orders and religious conviction.
The archbishop's guidance is significant because he oversees the Archdiocese for the Military Services, which provides pastoral care to Catholics serving in the US armed forces and their families. His statement effectively advises Catholic personnel that they may seek conscientious exemption from firing squad duty without violating their obligations, framing the request as a matter of religious conscience rather than insubordination.
Whether the military will grant such exemptions remains unclear. The execution is scheduled to proceed on December 3, and the livestream plan has not been publicly reversed. Broglio's statement adds a prominent religious voice to the debate, one that reaches directly into the ranks of the armed forces themselves.
For Catholics in uniform, the archbishop's words may carry particular weight as they navigate the demands of service and the moral boundaries set by their faith. The church's teaching on the death penalty, combined with Broglio's personal appeal, places the execution of Hasan not only in the realm of military justice but also in the broader moral conversation about how societies punish and whether public exposure of an execution serves any legitimate end.
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