On World and European Day Against the Death Penalty, the President of the Republic reaffirmed his position against capital punishment, calling it an 'act of cruelty, inhumanity, and degradation of dignity.'
Pope Leo XIV considered the death penalty 'unacceptable' today because it infringes upon human dignity and completely deprives the convicted of the possibility of redemption. The Patriarch, who is American, wrote this across his nine social media accounts on X in Spanish, English, Italian, French, German, Portuguese, Arabic, Polish, and Latin.
He also advocated the view that 'the common good can be protected, and the demands of justice maintained without resorting to the death penalty.' According to him, 'effective prison systems have already been developed that protect citizens while not depriving the guilty of the opportunity to atone for their guilt,' adding the hashtag #NoDeathPenalty to the post.
Thus, the Pope joined the initiatives of World Day Against the Death Penalty, which is observed annually on October 10.
Although the Pope did not mention these events directly, his words appeared in the context of tense debates in his country of origin, the United States, regarding the future execution of former Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan. He was convicted of murdering 13 people and wounding 32 others during an attack on Fort Hood military base in Texas in 2009.
The execution is scheduled for December 3 and will take place at the same military base by firing squad, as announced by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. U.S. President Donald Trump stated that the former military man sentenced to death 'deserves' execution.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights reminded that the intention to publicly execute a person via live broadcast may constitute a form of torture and is an absolutely prohibited act.