Military archbishop tells Catholic soldiers to seek exemption from Hasan firing squad
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The Facts
- Archbishop Timothy Broglio said Catholic soldiers assigned to Hasan’s firing squad should request to be excused.
- Broglio said participation in the firing squad would conflict with Catholic Church teaching.
- Broglio condemned the Pentagon’s proposed livestream of Hasan’s firing-squad execution.
- Nidal Hasan is scheduled to be executed by firing squad on Dec. 3.
- Hasan was an Army psychiatrist convicted of killing 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009.
- Army regulations allow soldiers to request religious exemptions or accommodations.
- The Army had not said how it would select members of Hasan’s firing squad.
Context
Who is Timothy Broglio?
Broglio is the archbishop who oversees Catholic pastoral and spiritual services for members of the U.S. armed forces. Reuters Guardian
Where Left and Right agree
Left and right largely agree on this one.
- What both sides accept
- Catholic soldiers assigned to the firing squad should get the religious exemption Army regulations already permit, and the planned livestream is itself objectionable.
- Where Left and Right differ in emphasis
- The left and the right agree Catholic soldiers should be excused, differing on why: opaque assignment or Church doctrine.
How left and right read it
The soldiers ordered to pull the trigger are the ones left exposed here, which is why the call for Catholic troops to seek the exemptions Army regulations already permit matters, and why the Army's silence on how it will pick that squad is not a small detail. The objection to the livestream has drawn condemnation well beyond one pulpit. Cancel both.
“The decision to livestream a public firing squad execution was swiftly met with bipartisan concern and opposition -- including from Republican members of Congress -- as well as widespread condemnation from world leaders.” — CNN International
Hasan was convicted of killing thirteen at Fort Hood and the sentence is his to answer for, but the Church's teaching on execution has tightened rather than loosened, so Catholic troops told that firing-squad duty conflicts with it should receive the accommodation Army regulations already permit — all the more while the Army stays silent on how it picks that squad. What does a livestream answer to?
“The Catholic Church formerly permitted executions under specific conditions. Modern popes say it is inadmissible.” — The Daily Wire
Exempting Catholic soldiers answers two different worries: an opaque assignment process, and a Church teaching turned against execution itself.
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