US military troops in Djibouti were recently able to revive a past practice of celebrating weekly Catholic mass with the local Catholic diocese, a tradition that had stopped following violent attacks in the area in 2014:

the Djiboutian-American partnership has proven too strong to be broken. Last month, the Combined Joint task Force – Horn of Africa Religious Affairs Office began the mission of once again uniting the faithful in Djibouti’s cathedral.

The Catholic church of Djibouti is the Cathédrale Notre-Dame du Bon-Pasteur de Djibouti, or Our Lady of the Good Shepherd Cathedral. Navy Chaplain (CAPT) David Rodriguez is the director of the office of religious affairs for the CJTF and helped facilitate the local worship with Bishop Giorgio Bertin, the Catholic bishop in Djibouti.

The ability to celebrate one’s religious faith even while deployed and even with foreign nationals is a unique opportunity afforded to US troops around the world.

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