Pope underlines stance against death penalty

Pope Leo XIV over the weekend said the death penalty should not be allowed, reaffirming his commitment to a Roman Catholic teaching formalized under his predecessor Pope Francis. His Saturday statement came as advocates pushed against capital punishment in the wake of controversy around two high-profile death row inmates in the United States. The death penalty was an attack on human dignity, Leo said. He argued that modern detention systems removed the need for capital punishment, since they could protect citizens while giving the guilty a chance for redemption.

Leo’s statement was nearly a direct quote from the Roman Catholic catechism, which Pope Francis amended in 2018 to formally include opposition to the death penalty. Catholics historically accepted capital punishment in some cases, but the last few popes have argued against the practice, according to the Vatican foundation Catholic Social Teaching In Action.

Why is Leo affirming his opposition to the death penalty now? The statement on Saturday coincided with the World Day Against the Death Penalty, organized by activist groups. Leo’s comments also came after several death penalty cases made headlines in the United States. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday announced plans to livestream the execution of Maj. Nidal Hasan, who killed 14 people in a 2009 shooting at Fort Hood, Texas.

A Tennessee death row inmate, Christa Pike, also recently survived an attempt to execute her via lethal injection. Catholic bishops are among those calling for her life to be spared going ahead. Pike was sentenced to death for her role in the brutal 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer.

What other news did Leo share over the weekend? He will undergo surgery in a few days to remove a growth on his lung, he said Sunday. The nodule was small and detected at an early stage, he said. He did not explicitly state whether the growth was cancerous.

Dig deeper: Read my report on the U.S. government’s plans for Hasan’s execution.