Leading Catholic bishop urges Pentagon against livestreaming execution

The president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops spoke out Friday against the Defense Department’s plan to live stream a firing squad execution next month. 

Archbishop Paul Coakley said he felt “shock and sorrow” when he learned of the plan to livestream the execution of former Army Maj. Nadal Hasan, who shot and killed 13 people at Fort Hood in Texas in 2009. A Pentagon official told The Hill that the military execution, the first in more than 60 years and the first by firing squad since World War II, will be livestreamed.

“In no way can Hassan’s actions be condoned but this decision is a barbaric promotion of a culture of death and must be reconsidered,” Coakley said. 

Coakley cited the biblical teaching not to “repay anyone evil for evil” and said a public execution will “undermine the moral fabric” of the nation. He said the execution would be a “blight on the conscience” of the........

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