Burak Bir
09 October 2026•Update: 09 October 2026
A senior Vatican official on Friday condemned US plans to livestream the execution of former US Army Maj. Nidal Hasan, describing the proposal as "unacceptable."
"I do not know for what purpose. It is certainly unacceptable to turn death into a spectacle. However guilty the person may be, there are other ways," Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin told reporters.
His remarks followed a statement by US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that the public would be able to watch the execution of Hasan by firing squad on Dec. 3.
Parolin said it was "truly incomprehensible" that such a method would be considered in the present day.
Hasan was sentenced to death for fatally shooting 13 unarmed US soldiers at Fort Hood military base in Texas in 2009.
The planned broadcast would reportedly mark the first public execution in the US in nearly a century.
