首位美国籍教皇在世界反对死刑日发声，尼达尔·马利克·哈桑将于12月3日在胡德堡被行刑
2026年10月12日 美国东部时间00:06 / 福克斯新闻网
教皇利奥十四世谴责死刑为“不可接受”，此前五角大楼因今年晚些时候直播行刑的计划遭到批评。
作为首位美国籍教皇，利奥周六在纪念世界反对死刑日的社交媒体帖文中表达了对死刑的反对立场。
他援引其前任教皇方济各修订后的天主教教义强调，死刑侵犯人类尊严。
“死刑不可接受，因为它攻击了人身的不可侵犯性与尊严。维护公共利益、实现正义无需诉诸死刑：我们已发展出有效的监禁体系，既能保护公民，同时也不会完全剥夺有罪者获得救赎的可能性，”利奥在X平台上写道。
他还在帖文中附带了话题标签“#废除死刑”。
[胡德堡枪击案中身中7枪的退伍军人警告计划观看行刑的美国人]
教皇利奥十四世在五角大楼宣布今年晚些时候将直播行刑这一史无前例的计划后，谴责死刑为“不可接受”。（美联社照片/格雷戈里奥·博尔贾）
2018年，方济各修订了天主教会官方对死刑的立场，宣布死刑在任何情况下都“不可接受”。
修订后的《天主教教理》指出：“因此，教会依据福音教导，死刑不可接受，因为它攻击了人身的不可侵犯性与尊严。”
在此之前，天主教教义允许在 deemed 保护人类生命免受危险罪犯侵害的唯一有效手段的情况下使用死刑。
此前的教皇们一直保留这一例外条款，尽管教皇约翰·保罗二世日益倡导废除死刑，强调被定罪者仍保有人类尊严。
尽管利奥在声明中未具体提及美国政府的计划，但他发表此番言论之际，五角大楼于周四宣布已安排对一名在军事基地制造大规模枪击案的男子使用行刑队行刑。
尼达尔·马利克·哈桑是前陆军精神病医生，因2009年在胡德堡军事基地枪击事件中杀害13人、打伤32人而被定罪。他将于12月3日在胡德堡被行刑，这将是美国军方自1945年以来首次使用行刑队行刑。
尼达尔·马利克·哈桑是前陆军精神病医生，因2009年在胡德堡军事基地枪击事件中杀害13人、打伤32人而被定罪。（路透社/健康科学统一服务大学/供图）
美国总统唐纳德·特朗普周六表示，他尚未决定是否允许由五角大楼首长皮特·赫格斯瑟推动的直播行刑计划推进。
身为天主教徒的副总统JD·万斯对五角大楼是否会推进公开行刑表示怀疑。他称如果直播真的进行，自己不会观看。
包括共和党议员在内的多名政界人士已公开反对直播行刑的计划。
[克里斯塔·派克在行刑失败后出院并被送回监狱，律师称]
“公开行刑是伊朗和阿富汗这类压迫性独裁政权的行径，”北卡罗来纳州共和党参议员汤姆·蒂利斯周四表示，“这种事不应在美国发生。”
梵蒂冈国务卿枢机主教彼得罗·帕罗林批评了拟议的直播，称其“令人费解”，并警告“将死亡变成 spectacle 是不可接受的”。
“教会的立场是全面反对死刑；这与人的尊严相悖，也不具备威慑作用，”帕罗林周五对记者表示，“令人费解的是，如今竟有人会支持这种刑罚——我不知道目的何在。将死亡变成 spectacle 当然是不可接受的；即便此人有罪，当然也有其他行刑方式。”
美国总统唐纳德·特朗普周六表示，他尚未决定是否允许由五角大楼首长皮特·赫格斯瑟推动的直播行刑计划推进。（亚伦·施瓦茨 / 法新社 via 盖蒂图片社）
他补充称，死刑“与人的尊严相悖，也不具备威慑作用”。
美国主教会议主席保罗·科克利总主教对公开行刑计划表示“震惊”和“深切悲痛”，并敦促美国重新考虑。
“无论如何都不能为哈桑的行为开脱，但这项决定是对死亡文化的野蛮宣扬，必须重新考量，”他在周五的一份声明中说道，“即便是对犯下严重罪行的人实施公开行刑，也只会进一步破坏我们国家的道德根基，成为国民良知上的污点。”
利奥的声明也未提及田纳西州克里斯塔·盖尔·派克行刑失败事件。上月晚些时候，尽管已注射两剂戊巴比妥，派克仍在未遂行刑中存活下来。
本报道由美联社和路透社联合采写。
Pope Leo denounces death penalty as ‘inadmissible’ ahead of Pentagon’s planned livestreamed execution
The first American pope marked World Day Against the Death Penalty as Nidal Malik Hasan’s Dec 3 execution at Fort Hood looms
October 12, 2026 12:06am EDT / Fox News
Pope Leo XIV condemned the death penalty as “inadmissible” as the Pentagon faces criticism over plans to livestream an execution later this year.
Leo, the first American pope, shared his opposition to capital punishment Saturday in a social media post marking World Day Against the Death Penalty.
Citing Catholic doctrine revised under his predecessor, Pope Francis, Leo emphasized that the death penalty violates human dignity.
“The death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person. The common good can be safeguarded and the requirements of justice can be met without recourse to capital punishment: effective systems of detention have been developed that protect citizens while at the same time do not completely deprive those who are guilty of the possibility of redemption,” Leo wrote on X.
“#NoDeathPenalty,” he added in the post.
[VETERAN SHOT 7 TIMES IN FORT HOOD MASSACRE HAS A WARNING FOR AMERICANS PLANNING TO WATCH EXECUTION]
Pope Leo XIV condemned the death penalty as “inadmissible” after the Pentagon announced unprecedented plans to livestream an execution later this year.(AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
In 2018, Francis revised the Catholic Church’s official position on capital punishment, declaring the death penalty “inadmissible” in all circumstances.
“Consequently the church teaches, in the light of the Gospel, that the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person,” the revised Catechism states.
Before the change, Catholic teaching permitted the death penalty in cases where it was deemed the only effective means of protecting human life from a dangerous offender.
Earlier popes had maintained that exception, though Pope John Paul II increasingly advocated ending capital punishment, stressing that those convicted of crimes retain their human dignity.
Although Leo did not specifically mention the U.S. government’s plans in his statement, his post comes after the Pentagon announced on Thursday that it had scheduled a firing squad execution for a man convicted of a mass shooting at a military base.
Nidal Malik Hasan, a former Army psychiatrist, was convicted of killing 13 people and wounding 32 others in a 2009 shooting at the Fort Hood military base. He is set to be executed at Fort Hood on Dec. 3, which would make him the first person to be executed by firing squad by the U.S. military since 1945.
Nidal Malik Hasan, a former Army psychiatrist, was convicted of killing 13 people and wounding 32 others in a 2009 shooting at the Fort Hood military base.(REUTERS/Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences/Handout)
President Donald Trump said on Saturday he had not yet decided whether to allow the livestream plan, pushed by Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth, to move forward.
Vice President JD Vance, who is a Catholic, expressed skepticism about whether the Pentagon would proceed with a public execution. He said he would not watch the livestream if it were carried out.
Several lawmakers, including Republicans, have spoken out against plans to broadcast the execution.
[CHRISTA PIKE DISCHARGED FROM HOSPITAL, RETURNED TO PRISON AFTER BOTCHED EXECUTION, ATTORNEYS SAY]
“Public executions are what oppressive dictatorships like Iran and Afghanistan do,” Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said on Thursday. “It should not be happening in America.”
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, criticized the proposed broadcast, calling it “truly incomprehensible” and warning that it was “unacceptable to turn death into a spectacle.”
“The Church’s position is one of total opposition to the death penalty; it is incompatible with human dignity and serves as no deterrent,” Parolin told reporters on Friday. “It is truly incomprehensible that anyone would want to use this system today — I don’t know for what purpose. It is certainly unacceptable to turn death into a spectacle; even if the person is guilty, of course, there are other methods.”
President Donald Trump said on Saturday he had not yet decided whether to allow the livestream plan, pushed by Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth, to move forward.(Aaron Schwartz / AFP via Getty Images)
He added that the death penalty “is incompatible with human dignity and does not serve as a deterrent.”
The head of the U.S. bishops conference, Archbishop Paul Coakley, expressed “shock” and “great sorrow” about the public execution plan and urged the U.S. to reconsider.
“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,” he said in a statement on Friday. “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.”
Leo’s statement also did not mention the botched lethal injection of Christa Gail Pike in Tennessee. Pike survived the attempted execution despite two doses of pentobarbital being administered late last month.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.