Military archbishop tells Catholic troops to ask to be excused from Fort Hood gunman's firing squad as Trump reportedly voices doubts about livestream
Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, who leads the Catholic Church's archdiocese for the U.S. armed forces, said Catholics assigned to the firing squad for Nidal Hasan should ask to be excused. Cardinal Blase J. Cupich of Chicago called the planned broadcast "performative barbarism." Axios, citing unnamed sources, reported that President Trump has privately said the livestream "might not happen."
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Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, head of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, the Catholic Church's jurisdiction for the U.S. armed forces, said on Monday, Oct. 12, that Catholic service members assigned to the firing squad for Nidal Malik Hasan should ask to be excused. Hasan, a former Army psychiatrist, was convicted of killing 13 people and wounding 32 at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009. His execution is scheduled for Dec. 3 at Fort Hood, and the Pentagon has said it will be livestreamed.
"As I would in the case of a procured abortion, I oblige any Catholics assigned to the firing squad to request to be excused from this action contrary to the teaching of the Church," Broglio said in a statement released by the archdiocese. He repeated the Church's opposition to capital punishment and asked, "Do we really want to imitate the terrorists of this world and make a public spectacle of barbarically killing our adversaries?" He also asked whether "the potential moral injury, which the members of the firing squad might experience," had been considered, and called on "all men and women of good will to ask that this decision be reconsidered." Fort Hood falls under the archdiocese's pastoral care, OSV News reported.
Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, archbishop of Chicago, said in a statement posted by the Archdiocese of Chicago on Oct. 12: "Capital punishment is unacceptable in any case. The planned broadcast of the taking of a life by firing squad is nothing short of performative barbarism." He wrote that a televised execution "does nothing to prevent future crimes and may encourage them by conferring martyrdom on the Ft. Hood killer."
Axios reported on Oct. 12 that Trump has privately shared misgivings about the livestream, citing four people who have spoken with him. One confidant who does not work in the administration told Axios that Trump said the livestream "might not happen." An unnamed administration official told Axios, "If I had to bet, I would bet the president doesn't authorize this," adding that Hasan "will be executed for his crimes." Publicly, Trump said on Oct. 10 that he would "make a decision, ultimately."
Appeals could still delay the execution beyond Dec. 3, OSV News noted.
Sources
Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA: Archbishop Broglio Issues Statement on Proposed Execution Livestream (Oct 12, 2026)
https://www.milarch.org/archbishop-broglio-issues-statement-on-proposed-execution-livestream/Archdiocese of Chicago: Statement of Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, archbishop of Chicago, on the Planned Execution of Nidal Malik Hasan (Oct 12, 2026)
https://www.archchicago.org/statement/-/article/2026/10/12/statement-of-cardinal-blase-j-cupich-on-the-planned-execution-of-nidal-malik-hasanAxios: Trump expresses doubts about livestreaming execution (Oct 12, 2026)
https://www.axios.com/2026/10/12/trump-livestream-executionOSV News: Archbishop Broglio denounces 'public spectacle' of Hasan execution, obliges Catholic recusal (Oct 12, 2026)
https://www.osvnews.com/archbishop-broglio-denounces-public-spectacle-of-hasan-execution-obliges-catholic-recusal/Al Jazeera: US archbishop says Catholics in army should not participate in firing squad (Oct 12, 2026)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/12/us-archbishop-says-catholics-in-army-should-not-participate-in-firing-squadThe Hill: US military archbishop opposes livestreaming Nidal Hasan's execution (Oct 12, 2026)
https://thehill.com/policy/defense/6143724-archbishop-opposes-hasan-execution-stream/CBS News: Military's archbishop criticizes plan to livestream execution: "Do we really want to imitate the terrorists?" (Oct 12, 2026)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/militarys-archbishop-live-stream-execution-nidal-hasan/Archived copy
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Corrections and updates
- Update, October 13, 2026: Brief prepared from the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA (page datePublished Oct. 12, 2026), the Archdiocese of Chicago (statement dated Oct. 12, 2026), Axios (Oct. 12), OSV News (page datePublished Oct. 12, 2026, 3:07 p.m. ET), Al Jazeera (page datePublished Oct. 12, 2026), The Hill (Oct. 12, 4:09 p.m. ET; the sheet had it as a search excerpt; the page opened), and CBS News (page datePublished Oct. 12, 2026; the sheet truncated the title with an ellipsis). Shares threadId fort-hood-hasan-execution-2026 and follows pope-leo-death-penalty-inadmissible-parolin-hasan-livestream-oct2026. The sheet date is Oct. 12, so sourcePublishedAt is 2026-10-12. The brief is in the Oct. 13 edition. Tags are us, law-courts, and catholic. No persecution tag. The Hegseth "Correct" reply and Speaker Johnson's remarks stay out. Rechecked Oct. 13, 2026: Axios still reports that the president said he would make a decision ultimately, and no cited outlet reports a final livestream decision. No one-line update added. An Oct. 13 Wayback snapshot is linked for CBS News. Axios has a Wayback record dated Oct. 12 with status 204 that is a Cloudflare challenge, so it is not linked. No prior snapshot was found for the Archdiocese for the Military Services, the Archdiocese of Chicago, OSV News, Al Jazeera, or The Hill. No photo.