U.S. Religious Liberty & Government Accountability
Military archbishop urges Catholic troops to seek removal from Hasan firing squad
Archbishop Timothy Broglio said Catholic soldiers assigned to Nidal Hasan's December 3 firing squad should request excusal. Defense policy provides an accommodation process, but no assignment, request or command decision was public at review.
The archbishop issued a religious instruction, not a military order
Archbishop Timothy Broglio, who oversees Catholic pastoral care for the U.S. armed forces, said on October 12 that any Catholic assigned to the firing squad for Nidal Hasan should request to be excused because participation would conflict with Catholic teaching. Reuters and AP reported the statement. Broglio also condemned a proposed public livestream while recalling that he presided at the funeral of Michael Grant Cahill, the only civilian among the 13 people Hasan murdered at Fort Hood in 2009. [1][2]
Broglio's authority is pastoral, not command authority. His statement does not itself remove a soldier from an assignment, cancel the execution or decide a legal accommodation request. No reviewed source identified a soldier who had been selected for the firing squad or said that an accommodation request had been filed or denied. [1][4]
Defense policy requires individualized accommodation review
Defense Department Instruction 1300.17 says service members may observe a religion or no religion and directs components to accommodate sincerely held beliefs unless doing so would adversely affect readiness, cohesion, good order and discipline, or health and safety. It provides a process for requests rather than an automatic exemption. The Army has not publicly explained how firing-squad members will be selected or how a request tied to this execution would be evaluated. [4][1]
The execution date is set; the broadcast decision is not
The Army said acting Secretary Adam Telle directed that Hasan be executed by firing squad at Fort Hood at 1 p.m. Central time on December 3 after President Trump approved the death sentence on October 2. The Army said the military appellate process upheld the conviction and sentence. Hasan was convicted in 2013 of 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder. [3][2]
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced plans to livestream the execution, but Trump later said he had not made a final decision on a broadcast. A proposed livestream and the execution order are therefore separate: the execution date is an official Army action, while the reviewed record still described public transmission as unsettled. [1][5]
How the sources compare
| Source | What it adds | Scope or limitation |
|---|---|---|
| Reuters · English | Broglio’s instruction, the religious-accommodation question, the unsettled livestream decision and the Army’s lack of a disclosed selection method. | It did not identify an assigned soldier or an adjudicated accommodation request. |
| Associated Press · English | The archbishop’s pastoral role, his connection to a victim’s funeral and the moral distinction he drew between punishment and public spectacle. | The AP report does not turn church teaching into military law. |
| U.S. Army and Defense Department · primary records | The official execution date, conviction and appeal history, and the governing religious-accommodation framework. | The records do not disclose firing-squad assignments or decide how a future request would be resolved. |
What remains unclear
Who will be assigned to the firing squad and what selection criteria the Army will use.
Whether any service member will request an accommodation and how the command will evaluate it.
Whether courts will consider further collateral challenges before December 3.
Whether the government will livestream the execution; the president said the broadcast decision was not final.
Sources & translations
- Reuters — Catholics in US Army must not participate in firing squad, prominent archbishop says
- Associated Press — Archbishop of the U.S. military says Catholic soldiers should not serve on firing squad
- U.S. Army — Army Sets Execution Date for Convicted Murderer Nidal Hasan
- U.S. Department of Defense — DoD Instruction 1300.17 — Religious Liberty in the Military Services
- Reuters — Pope Leo condemns death penalty as Trump mulls livestreamed execution
Updates & corrections
- — Initial report separates the archbishop’s religious instruction, the military accommodation process, the official execution order and the still-unsettled livestream decision.