Archbishop tells Catholic soldiers to seek excusal from Hasan firing squad
Archbishop Timothy Broglio said Catholic soldiers assigned to execute Nidal Hasan should request excusal as Army rules allow religious accommodations.
By Sofia Marchetti · World Affairs Correspondent
2 min read
Archbishop Timothy Broglio has told Catholics in the Army assigned to the proposed firing squad for Nidal Hasan’s execution to ask to be excused. The intervention in the catholics army firing squad dispute raises a practical issue for service members as the Army has yet to say how it would select the squad, Reuters reported.
Broglio oversees pastoral care for Catholic members of the U.S. armed forces. In a statement reported Monday, he said participation would conflict with Church teaching and directed Catholic personnel assigned to the firing squad to request excusal.
The comments concern the planned execution of Hasan, a former Army major convicted of killing 13 people in the 2009 shooting at Fort Hood, Texas. President Donald Trump has approved execution by firing squad, according to Reuters, while the reported Dec. 3 date remains subject to the plans described by news organizations.
Can Catholic soldiers avoid firing-squad duty?
Army regulations allow soldiers to seek religious exemptions or accommodations, Reuters reported. That does not mean a service member is automatically removed from such a duty: Broglio’s direction was to request excusal, and the Army had not announced how it planned to choose firing-squad members.
Broglio also objected to a proposal to broadcast the execution. He questioned whether the United States should turn the killing of an adversary into a public spectacle and whether showing the execution of Hasan, who uses a wheelchair after being shot by police during his arrest, could harm the military’s reputation abroad, Reuters reported.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the proposed livestream and has said public viewing would serve as a deterrent, according to Reuters and Al Jazeera. Hegseth also said he wanted the execution carried out at the time, day of the week and place of the Fort Hood attack, Reuters reported.
The firing-squad approval and the broadcast proposal are separate matters. Trump said he was still deciding whether a livestream would go ahead, Reuters reported. Death-penalty experts told Reuters that no U.S. government execution had previously been broadcast or livestreamed; the U.S. military has not carried out an execution by firing squad since 1945.
Other Catholic leaders have criticized the proposed broadcast and capital punishment. But Broglio’s statement specifically addresses Catholics serving in the military and calls on anyone assigned to the squad to seek a religious accommodation.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.