The Justice Department said Friday it will use firing squads and single-drug lethal injections to kill condemned federal prisoners, as it seeks to ramp up and expedite capital punishment. It’s also planning to impose new restrictions on the ability of death row prisoners to seek clemency or pardons, along with a regulation designed to cut years off the federal appeals process for state death penalty cases. At the Vatican , Pope Leo reiterated the Catholic Church’s opposition to capital punishment on the same day that the Trump administration announced its plans to expand state-sanctioned killings.

Pope Leo XIV: “In this regard, we affirm that the dignity of the person is not lost even after various serious crimes are committed. Furthermore, effective systems of detention can be and have been developed that protect citizens, while at the same time do not completely deprive those who are guilty of the possibility of redemption.”

Later in the broadcast, we’ll speak with Sister Helen Prejean, the renowned anti-death penalty activist.