US Army Archbishop Urges Soldiers to Refuse Participation in Execution of Nidal Hasan - Sarmad

Archbishop Timothy Broglio, head of the U.S. military’s Catholic archdiocese, has urged Catholic soldiers who may be tasked with carrying out the execution of Nidal Hasan by firing squad to seek exemption from the duty.

Broglio stated that participating in the execution contradicts Church teachings, amid growing controversy over plans to broadcast the execution live to the public.

In a statement on Monday, Broglio said that displaying the execution of Hasan, who was sentenced to death for killing 13 people at Fort Hood military base in Texas in 2009, raises ethical questions about the purpose of showing a human killing on a global scale, even in cases of extremely serious crimes.

The archbishop warned that broadcasting the execution could damage the image of the U.S. military, questioning the wisdom of placing the army in a position that, in his view, resembles the practices of terrorist groups that display killings to the public.

He recalled presiding over the funeral of Michael Grant Cahill, the only civilian killed in the attack. The execution is scheduled for December 3, following President Donald Trump’s approval of the sentence on October 2, with the military setting the date at Fort Hood, now known as Fort Cavazos.

If carried out, it would be the first execution of a U.S. service member since 1961 and the first use of a firing squad for a military execution since 1945, according to U.S. reports.

Hasan, a former U.S. Army lieutenant colonel and psychiatrist, was convicted by a military court in 2013 of killing 13 people and injuring 32 others in the November 2009 shooting.

The U.S. Supreme Court rejected his petition for review in March 2025, before finalizing the procedures leading to the execution.

Objections to the case have extended beyond Broglio’s ecclesiastical stance. Cardinal Blase Cupich, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, criticized the plan to broadcast the execution in a statement issued on October 9, arguing that it promotes a culture of glorifying death.

He called on authorities to reconsider the decision. In response, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth defended the idea of making the execution public, stating that people need to understand the consequences of committing such crimes.

However, U.S. reports indicated that the decision to broadcast the execution had not been definitively finalized, despite the Department of Defense announcing plans to make it available for public viewing.

Pope Leo XIV also reaffirmed the Catholic Church’s opposition to the death penalty, describing it as unacceptable because it constitutes an attack on the sanctity and dignity of the human person.

The debate places U.S. authorities before questions regarding the limits of criminal deterrence, the rights of victims and their families, and the ethical and psychological impact of involving military personnel in carrying out or publicly displaying executions.

While the objections do not deny the severity of the crime committed by Hasan, they focus on whether broadcasting the execution serves any additional legal or security purpose, or whether it transforms the punishment into a public spectacle whose effects extend beyond the parties involved in the case.