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Pope Leo Takes Subtle Shot at Pentagon Pete’s Ghoulish Plan

The Chicago-born pontiff is clearly keeping a close eye on headlines in the United States.

Pope Leo XIV has reminded Pete Hegseth of the Catholic Church’s rejection of the death penalty after the defense secretary bragged he will livestream a terrorist’s execution by firing squad.

“The death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person,” the pope said Saturday.

He continued, “The common good can be safeguarded, and the requirements of justice can be met without recourse to capital punishment: effective systems of detention have been developed that protect citizens while at the same time do not completely deprive those who are guilty of the possibility of redemption.”

Nidal Malik Hasan, a 56-year-old former U.S. Army major and psychiatrist, will be executed by firing squad after he shot 13 Americans dead and injured 33 others during a terrorist attack at Fort Hood in November 2009.

He has been on death row since his conviction and sentencing in 2013.

Hegseth announced this week that Hasan will be executed on a public livestream, drawing immediate backlash across party lines.

“Hasan should face the death penalty, but making his execution public and streaming it? Beyond disgusting,” Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, of North Carolina, said. “Public executions are what oppressive dictatorships like Iran and Afghanistan do. It should not be happening in America.”

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The pope clashed with Hegseth this spring after he called on Americans to “pray every day, on bended knee” for a military victory in the Middle East. Leo hit back in a homily, saying the Christian mission has often been “distorted by a desire for domination, entirely foreign to the way of Jesus Christ.”

Days later, President Donald Trump criticized Leo on Truth Social, calling him “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for foreign policy.”

This summer, the Chicago-born pontiff also took aim at the Trump administration’s “remigration” policy. The pope told reporters that governments should treat immigrants with respect.

“Often, we don’t recognize the reason why these people were forced to leave their home countries. For many reasons—violence, war, conflict,” he said. “To simply say, ‘We’re going to send them away and wash our hands of the problem’ doesn’t seem like the most Christian response.”

Leo also wrote a letter to the U.S. ahead of the Fourth of July on how, as a Catholic, “safeguarding human life” requires “welcoming, protecting and assisting immigrants.”

Doing so “with compassion and generosity is not only an act of charity, but also a recognition of the ⁠dignity that belongs to every human person,” he wrote.

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Evgenia AnastasakosBreaking News Intern

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