The Trump administration announced Friday that it will authorize firing squads as a federally permitted method of execution, deepening its push to revive the death penalty — underscoring a sharp divide with Pope Leo XIV and recent Catholic teaching. Hours after the Justice Department made its announcement, the pontiff condemned the death penalty as an attack on human dignity.
In a prerecorded video message shared with DePaul University in Chicago to mark the 15th anniversary of Illinois' abolition of the death penalty, Pope Leo declared that the Catholic Church has consistently taught that each human life, from conception until natural death, is sacred and deserves protection.
"We affirm that the dignity of the person is not lost even after very serious crimes are committed," Leo said.
Hours earlier, the pontiff had condemned capital punishment aboard the papal plane, when asked about executions carried out by the Iranian government. The timing comes amid a widening divide between the Trump administration and Catholic leaders, who have also opposed the administration's immigration tactics, including widespread arrests of undocumented immigrants. In February, as part of a case contesting the administration's position on birthright citizenship, U.S. bishops filed an amicus brief outlining its opposition.
A new execution toolkit for the federal government
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the Justice Department is also reauthorizing lethal injection using the sedative pentobarbital, which was withdrawn by the Biden administration after a government review found the injection may cause unnecessary pain and suffering.
The changes reflect a broader directive from Trump, who since returning to office has ordered the Justice Department to prioritize pursuing and carrying out death sentences.
The pentobarbital protocol was originally developed during Trump's first term – with the reintroduction of the federal death penalty – under then-Attorney General Bill Barr. It replaced a three-drug mixture last used during the early 2000s.
The Trump administration's report released Friday pushes back on the Biden administration's finding, arguing the review misread the science and that pentobarbital renders a prisoner unconscious rapidly enough to prevent pain.
The Death Penalty Information Center, a national nonprofit, says five states currently permit the use of firing squads: Idaho, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Utah.
Few federal death row inmates remain, but new cases are moving forward
The expansion of execution methods comes as the number of prisoners awaiting federal executions has been sharply reduced. Only three prisoners remain on federal death row after former President Biden commuted the sentences of 37 condemned inmates to life in prison during his final days in office. Those three are Dylann Roof, who murdered nine Black parishioners at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015; Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, convicted for carrying out the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing; and Robert Bowers, who killed 11 congregants at Pittsburgh's Tree of Life synagogue in 2018, the deadliest antisemitic attack in American history.
Despite the depleted roster, the Trump administration has moved to seek death sentences against 44 defendants. Executions have risen sharply, climbing from 25 in 2024 to 47 in 2025, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Much of that increase came in Florida, with executions in the state accounting for 19 of the 47 total.
Copyright 2026 NPR