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Archbishop of the US military says Catholic soldiers should not serve on firing squad

Politico reports:

BLUF: The archbishop described the planned execution of a gunman who killed 13 people on a military base as contrary to the teachings of the church.

“Archbishop Timothy Broglio, who oversees the Catholic Church’s pastoral services to Catholics in the U.S. military, is condemning the proposed livestream of the firing squad execution of Nidal Hasan.
Broglio, in a statement Monday, also stipulated that any Catholic soldier assigned to the U.S. Army firing squad should ask to be excused from that duty, which he described as contrary to the teachings of the church. He joins other Catholic leaders in speaking out against the death penalty and the livestream plans.

Hasan, an Army psychiatrist convicted of killing 13 people in 2009 at Fort Hood in Texas, is scheduled to be executed by firing squad on Dec. 3.
Broglio recalled that he presided over the funeral of Michael Grant Cahill, the only civilian killed in that attack.

The crime committed by Hasan “was heinous, but does exposing the public to his execution serve any purpose?” Broglio asked.

“The US military generally enjoys a good reputation in the world,” Broglio added. “Is there really a value to throwing them in the same boat with terrorists by broadcasting the image of the execution of a man in a wheelchair to the whole world?”



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“Archbishop of the U.S. military says Catholic soldiers should not serve on firing squad”
Associated Press
POLITICO
https://apple.news/AU8Bq_lkrQp2vBVOL6kLNvQ
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Crazywaterspring · 61-69, M
US military members are forbidden to follow illegal orders. This is taught beginning with boot camp and OCS.

trump and company will courts martial them. They'll have plenty of highly qualified former JAGs who will be delighted to represent them in court pro bono.
@Crazywaterspring The United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces ruled in 1983 that the military death penalty was unconstitutional. Later that same year, new standards were approved to address the objections of the Appeals Court. President Ronald Reagan re-instated the military death penalty in 1984 by Executive Order.

Hasan was sentenced to death at his court martial by unanimous decision of the officers on that board. Hasan represented himself at his trial, pled guilty, and stated he desired the death penalty as it would make him a martyr in Islam.

The sentence is, therefore, not illegal.

Since the re-instatement of the military death penalty at least one military member was executed—US Army Private Ron Gray was executed by lethal injection in 2008 after 20 years on death row.

Beside Hasan, I believe there are currently three other former military members on death row.

However, the military members tasked for a firing squad should be allowed to have themselves dismissed on conscientious and/or religious reasons without any adverse effects on their careers.

In US military history, firing squad members are assigned rifles by random lottery. Most of the rifles are loaded with blanks. I am uncertain if the number with live ammunition is “1” or “4” but this is done so that a member has a reasonable expectation that they were not the actual executioner.

So while the execution order of Hasan is technically “legal” under the UCMJ, live streaming of the event is an incredibly bad precedent. Rest assured that video of the event would be used to recruit terrorists and would be used to target all of our military members while serving no useful purpose and reducing America to the level of the very few countries who would engage in such barbarism.

I do not know if military law allows for family members of the murderer’s victims to be present for a firing squad execution. That may be another legal issue that may need to be addressed.
Picklebobble2 · 61-69, M
I'm always skeptical of supposed 'religious leaders' serving in the military.

Like they'll have no qualms about praying for victory that sees the 'safe return of the valiant'.

But rarely a thought let alone mention for the 'vanquished'...many of whom might well have been Catholic (or any other denomination) themselves.

One man cannot serve two masters
- jesus...if I'm not mistaken
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