US Army Chaplain (Maj) Francisco Stodola highlights Chaplains’ duties to support the needs of all troops:

For chaplains serving in the United States Army, service and faith reinforce each other and guide the invaluable duty they perform as counselors and mentors…

“This is one of the major jobs of every chaplain,” said Stodola, “to see that every soldier’s needs are met. Every chaplain is expected to take care of all the troops under his care.”

As often noted here, while Chaplains are, by definition, religious figures, they do far more than see to only personal religious needs in the military; they directly support the accomplishment of the mission.

As a chaplain, Stodola’s service means much more than providing religious services. At the brigade level, he frequently acts as special staff to the commander and a key trainer of annual briefings for all personnel, to include suicide prevention, redeployment and family life.

Still, Stodola is a Catholic priest, and he brings that to his role as well:

As an ordained Catholic priest, [Stodola] serves as an official ambassador of his religion and faithfully represents the diocese endorsing him.

Being an “ambassador” for one’s faith is a natural extension of that faith, despite what some critics have said in the past.  Chaplain Stodola appears to have an admirable view on his role of serving his congregants and the military, both protecting the religious freedom of his troops and providing invaluable service to the profession of arms.