Pope Leo XIV Opposes Capital Punishment Following U.S. Firing Squad Approval

Pope Leo XIV denounced capital punishment as a violation of human dignity in a recorded video address to DePaul University in Chicago. The address was timed to coincide with the 15th anniversary of Illinois abolishing the death penalty. He stated that the dignity of the person remains intact even after serious crimes.

Earlier on the same day, the Pope spoke against executions while aboard the papal aircraft, in response to questions about Iran's use of capital punishment.

The Justice Department approved firing squads as an acceptable method for federal executions on Friday. The department also announced it would restore the use of pentobarbital for lethal injections. This reverses a decision by the previous administration that suspended the sedative due to concerns about unnecessary suffering.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche confirmed the policy shift. The current administration disputes the previous scientific conclusions and maintains that pentobarbital induces unconsciousness quickly enough to prevent pain. These changes are part of a broader directive for federal prosecutors to prioritize seeking and implementing death sentences.

State Practices and Broader Context Five U.S.

states currently permit firing squads: Idaho, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Utah. The announcement has highlighted tensions between the current administration and Catholic Church leadership in the United States. Church officials have clashed with the administration over immigration enforcement, including detention operations targeting undocumented migrants.

U.S. bishops submitted an amicus brief in February opposing the administration's stance on birthright citizenship. The Catholic Church holds that every human life is sacred from conception to natural death. Federal death row currently holds three inmates, following the previous administration's commutation of 37 death sentences to life imprisonment.

One of the remaining inmates is Dylann Roof, convicted of murdering nine Black worshippers at Charleston's Mother Emanuel AME Church in 2015. The administration is pursuing capital punishment against 44 defendants. Nationwide executions rose from 25 in 2024 to 47 in 2025, with Florida accounting for 19.