Giovanni Battista Bugatti remains one of the most famous executioners in the world. After his retirement, his successors took on the nickname Mastro Titta and it has been synonymous with being an executioner. The last execution in the Papal States took place in 1870, according to Executed Today. It's quite difficult to fathom how the Pope carried out death sentences for criminals, but they were done to set an example, and it was a way to let the people witness what would happen to them if they committed crimes.
However, the death penalty was more than a form of punishment. Per the National Catholic Reporter, executions were rituals with a theological aspect. People were asked to pray for the souls of the prisoners, and the Pope would pray for those condemned as well. Before the execution, executioners were visited by a priest for confession, and they also had communion, which is a symbol that the act they were about to perform was sanctioned by the church. Mastro Titta remains notorious, and his work has been immortalized in poems, plays, and stories about him.
