Failed execution: Pope Leo apparently asked for a stay for Christa Pike

Pope Leo XIV is said to have advocated for the stay of the execution of Christa Pike. This was reported by the Italian daily newspaper La Repubblica. The Vatican submitted the request well before the failed execution attempt. There was no reaction.

The 50-year-old was scheduled to be executed with lethal injection on Wednesday evening. But after she was given the two doses of the drug pentobarbital required by the protocol, according to authorities, she continued to live.

Witnesses reported hearing Pike breathing and gasping for air for a long time. One of her lawyers later said he even heard her talking and singing after the first dose. Eventually, Pike was taken to a medical facility outside of the prison. It is still unclear what Pike's prognosis is and what health consequences she could suffer.

The Holy See fundamentally rejects the death penalty. In similar cases, the Vatican had previously asked not to carry out executions. Such requests often received no direct response or were not made public.

The Vatican is not concerned with the legal details of the respective cases, but with the “sanctity” of human life. According to the Vatican, justice can also be meted out to murderers in other ways.

“La Repubblica” wrote that the pope’s initiative was gaining weight in view of the situation on death row in Tennessee. The incident gave new urgency to the issue and highlighted the inhumanity of the death penalty, it said.

Two execution attempts with lethal injection – how can you survive that? Pharmacologist Georg Kojda explains here how something like this is possible and why we should expect more such cases.