Pope Leo XIV condemned the death penalty for the second time this week right after President Donald Trump reintroduced execution by firing squad in the U.S.
“The right to life is the very foundation of every other human right,” the first American-born pontiff said on Friday, hours after the Trump administration said the government should expand the method available for carrying the death penalty.
“For this reason, only when a society safeguards the sanctity of human life will it flourish and prosper,” he added.
His remarks were part of a video message sent to DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois, to mark the 15th anniversary of the state’s decision to abolish the death penalty.
Former Governor George Ryan issued a moratorium on all executions in Illinois in 2000, calling for the practice to be investigated. Three years later, he commuted the sentences of 167 death row inmates into life in prison, while pardoning four. Former Governor Pat Quinn signed the legislation officially banning capital punishment in the state in 2011.
The same day that the pontiff was praising Illinois for the decision taken 15 years ago, the Trump administration announced that the Justice Department will adopt firing squads as a permitted method of execution.
The department also reauthorized the use of single-drug lethal injections with pentobarbital, whose use had been halted by the Biden administration in 2021 after stating that the federal government had failed to address the pain and suffering associated with the drug.
What Did the Pope Say?
In his video message to DePaul University on Friday, Pope Leo stated the Catholic Church has “consistently taught that each human life, from the moment of conception until natural death, is sacred and deserves to be protected. Indeed, the right to life is the very foundation of every other human right.”
Citing Pope Francis and his predecessor’s opposition to capital punishment, he stated his own support for abolishing the death penalty wherever it is still enforced.
“The dignity of the person is not lost even after very serious crimes are committed. Effective systems of detention can be and have been developed that protect citizens while at the same time do not completely deprive those who are guilty of the possibility of redemption,” he said.
“The Church teaches that the death penalty is inadmissible, because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person. I […] offer my support to those who advocate for the abolition of the death penalty in the United States of America and around the world.”
The pope’s comment did not directly address the Trump administration’s decision to allow firing squads for executions to accelerate capital punishment under the president.
A day earlier, the pontiff had already condemned the death penalty when a reporter questioned him about the executions conducted by the regime in Iran. “I condemn all actions that are unjust. I condemn the taking of people’s lives. I condemn capital punishment,” he said on Thursday.
Why Has the Trump Administration Said OK to Firing Squads?
In its announcement on Friday, the Department of Justice wrote that it was acting to “restore its solemn duty to seek, obtain, and implement lawful capital sentences—clearing the way for the Department to carry out executions once death-sentenced inmates have exhausted their appeals.”
Beside allowing execution by firing squads—a method that has not been used in the U.S. in centuries—and reinstating the lethal injection protocol stopped by the Biden administration, the department will also streamline internal processes “to expedite death penalty cases.”
The changes are part of Trump’s direction for the Department of Justice since his return to office, when he ordered them to “prioritize seeking death sentences in appropriate cases, promptly carrying out those sentences, and strengthening the death penalty.”
Executions have indeed surged under Trump, who during his first mandate ended a 20-year moratorium on executions committed by the federal government and executed 13 people. That is more than any other president in more than 120 years.
Only three defendants remain on federal death row after former President Joe Biden commuted sentences for 37 death row inmates to life in prison during his final days in office. These are Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Pittsburgh synagogue shooter Robert Bowers, and white supremacist, Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof.
Is The Vatican/White House Rift Widening?
The disagreement between Pope Leo and Trump over the death penalty, while not publicly addressed, is the latest sign that a widening rift between the Vatican and the White House is not close to being patched up.
After news of a tense January meeting between Pentagon and Vatican officials broke out earlier this month and the pontiff’s repeated criticism of the war in Iran, Trump told reporters he was “not a big fan” of Pope Leo.
He later doubled down on the pontiff, writing on social media that Pope Leo was “weak” on crime and “terrible” for foreign policy, urging him to “get his act together as pope.”
In a rare public response, Pope Leo told reporters a few days later that he had “no fear” of the Trump administration and would have continued speaking against the conflict in the Middle East and all wars.
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