Military Archbishop Challenges Pentagon Plan to Livestream Hasan Execution
Archbishop Timothy Broglio condemned the Pentagon's proposed plan to livestream the firing-squad execution of Nidal Hasan. The Guardian
Broglio oversees spiritual care for Catholics serving in the U.S. military. His statement was published on the official website of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, the Catholic diocese that serves troops and their families. Archdiocese for the Military Services
Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, was convicted of killing 13 people in the 2009 attack at Fort Hood, Texas. He is scheduled to be executed by firing squad on 3 December. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the execution would be public. The Pentagon confirmed it would be livestreamed.
Broglio has a direct pastoral connection to the case. He presided over the funeral of Michael Grant Cahill, the only civilian killed at Fort Hood. He called Hasan's crime heinous. He questioned what purpose would be served by exposing the public to the execution.
The archbishop addressed Catholic personnel directly. He said any Catholic soldier assigned to the Army firing squad should ask to be excused. He described duty on the firing squad as contrary to the teachings of the Catholic Church.
He also addressed the public character of the plan. He said the U.S. military generally enjoys a good reputation in the world. He questioned the value of broadcasting to the whole world the image of the execution of a man in a wheelchair.
His intervention followed an earlier rebuke from Archbishop Paul Coakley, president of the U.S. Bishops' Conference. Coakley condemned the livestream plan as "barbaric." OSV News
Looking at what this means for the military, the immediate issue is personnel as well as publicity. A public request for excusal creates a foreseeable accommodation question for Army commanders assembling a firing detail, the small team assigned to carry out the sentence. It also tests how a livestream order would be carried out if members decline on religious grounds.
The broader context here is authority and audience. Broglio speaks as the endorsing bishop for Catholic service members, the church leader who guides chaplains and pastoral rules for troops, while Coakley speaks for the national conference. Their objections frame the livestream as a moral and practical problem distinct from the underlying death sentence. The Pentagon has not altered the announced plan. The test will be whether a broadcast execution proceeds on schedule, and under what orders, on 3 December.
