Archbishop Broglio: Army's cancellation of religious support contracts harms Catholics
Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services said Oct. 17 the U.S. Army has cancelled all religious support contracts for Army chapels, "including those for religious educators, administrators, and musicians." He said this has placed on Catholics "an insurmountable restriction on the free exercise of religion."
"For those who attend Mass, visit chapel offices, or participate in faith formation on a U.S. Army installation, you likely noticed, that beginning on Sunday, 5 October 2025, contract services and contractor offices were dark and music was absent during Mass," the archbishop said in a letter addressed to members of the military archdiocese, which he said will also be sent to all members of Congress.
A memorandum issued in March of this year by U.S. Army Installation Management Command which directed the cancellation of all chapel contracts for Coordinators of Religious Education (CRE), Catholic Pastoral Life Coordinators (CPLC), and musician contracts, across the U.S. Army."
"There are merely 137 Catholic chaplains serving in the active and reserve components of the U.S. Army, yet there are more than 2,500 chaplains in the U.S. Army Chaplain Corps," he continued. "This means that less than 5.5% of the Chaplain Corps is Catholic. However, about twenty-percent of soldiers are Catholic."
Broglio cited a RAND report that found "there are approximately six Protestant chaplains for every 1,000 Protestant soldiers, and approximately one Catholic chaplain for every 1,000 Catholic soldiers."
So the cancellation of religious support contracts "disproportionately harms Catholics," he said. "First, because Catholic chaplains are already so low density and in such high demand, and second because the Catholic faith requires continuing religious education and sacramental preparation that can only be accomplished through competent support."
"Moreover, because Catholic chaplains are most often assigned full-time to operational units, such as brigades and battalions, the demands of the unit, and the operational tempo of deployments, field time, and training rotations, make it impossible for a Catholic chaplain to oversee the daily operations of chapel programs without professional support."
One priest per thousand Catholics is not a low number. The problem appears to be that chaplains are more servants of the military than of Catholic soldiers, and that priests cannot serve a thousand people without the support of paid laity or at least have become used to having paid laity do the work of the church rather than relying on volunteers.
ReplyDeleteI'm having a little seeing the problem here. Doesn't the lower ratio of Catholic chaplains (i.e., priests?) simply reflect the priest shortage everywhere?
ReplyDeleteSecond, faith formation and religious education are not unique to Catholics. I presume that Episcopalians, Lutherans, the Orthodox, Jews, and Muslims might be affected similarly.
Most parishes in our locale now share a priest with one or two other parishes. RCIA and other prep programs are typically offered at only one of these locations.
Why can't Catholics on military bases get prep and continuing ed services from the nearest civilian parishes?
*having a little TROUBLE seeing ...
DeleteA few ideas about why faith and parish life are different in the military than in civilian life. Civilian catechists are for the most part volunteers. There isn't a whole lot of turnover, the same people tend to remain involved in their ministry for several years. In the military people get transferred, a lot of postings are only two years. If you lose your experienced people every two years, you are always reinventing the wheel in the religious ed program. So abruptly losing any support for a paid staff is going to be a problem.
ReplyDeleteAs for priests who are chaplains, I'm pretty sure a diocesan or order priest has to be released by their bishop or superior in order to serve as a military chaplain. Since most dioceses are stretched to the max already, it is likely that bishops would be reluctant to release any of their clergy for a stint in the military.
The chaplaincies have traditionally been part of the support that the military has provided for the enlisted people. It seems like this is not the only example of support that is no longer being provided. Maybe they have to save the money in order to pay ICE.
As far as Abp. Broglio is concerned, he is one of the rather conservative bishops. He probably didn't think the administration was going to hurt his program.
I worked for the Army for almost five decades. I’m glad I don’t now. With the illegal bombing of Venezuelan boats, the material support of genocide, warmongering against Venezuela and Iran, it’s obvious that we’re about democracy and freedom as much as Israel is about Judaism. High falutin’ excuses for doing anything you please. I now believe that this is what our country was ALWAYS really about and that my professional contribution to the common good of the human race by supporting the US military amounts to zero or less. Best for Catholics to stay clear of the US military anyway and avoid the moral injury. If billionaires and their offspring don’t fight, why should they?
ReplyDeleteI think there have always been both good and bad things about our country, like all countries. You tried to support the good things in your professional career with your knowledge of optics. No need to sell yourself short. Its a different crowd in charge now than in the decades you served.
DeleteIt's somewhat of a strange story. Archbishop Broglio's comments nearly (but not quite) imply that Catholics are being singled out; but as no context is given, neither by Archbishop Broglio nor the Army, it's difficult to understand what has happened and why.
ReplyDeleteI'd think, if army bases in the US historically have been served by these now-canceled contractors, funnelling the recipients of these services to local parishes would be a burden. If it is a large base in a small town, it might be nigh impossible for a local parish to pick up the slack.
Military parents who want their kids to go through sacramental prep may have to look at alternatives. There are home-schooling resources out there. But I'd guess that not all parents have the time and the gifts to instruct their children in such things.
I agree it is a strange story. It does not tell us how it has been done. Maybe the military through the chaplains pays local parishes to provide staff and musicians for services on the base. That would seem to be the easiest way for chaplains to recruit staff. Perhaps some of those will continue to do so for free.
DeleteOr maybe the chaplains hire their own staff with a wider search.
Either way the downside for the chaplains would seem to be that they will be at the mercy of whoever is willing to volunteer.
"Either way the downside for the chaplains would seem to be that they will be at the mercy of whoever is willing to volunteer."
DeleteRight. And I doubt many chaplains volunteered for the military so they could administer programs. They could have stayed home and done that as parish pastors (except parishes have a budget for professional staff). I am supposing they want to actually minister to soldiers (or "warfighters" as our great leaders now refer to them) and their families.