{"id":22089,"date":"2013-04-15T00:30:24","date_gmt":"2013-04-15T03:30:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/?p=22089"},"modified":"2016-11-26T01:37:46","modified_gmt":"2016-11-26T04:37:46","slug":"catholic-nuns-as-us-military-chaplains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/2013\/04\/15\/catholic-nuns-as-us-military-chaplains\/","title":{"rendered":"Catholic Nuns as US Military Chaplains?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dr. Jennifer Bryson, a guest writer at the Washington Post and research professor at the US Army War College, oversteps her expertise in a recent article<\/a>, saying:<\/p>\n

It is time for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA to consider allowing nuns to serve as U.S. military chaplains.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

She claims she has heard three main criticisms when she has made this argument in the past:<\/p>\n

First I hear, \u201cBut women can\u2019t celebrate Mass.\u201d Of course not…Second I hear, \u201cOh no, all nuns are liberal!\u201d…Third I hear, \u201cNo woman would want to serve in the military as a Catholic chaplain.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Those criticisms are irrelevant.\u00a0 More to the point is the criticism the Military Archdiocese lacks the authority <\/em>she demands it assume:\u00a0 The US military has rules, procedures, and policies\u00a0regarding who can and cannot be chaplains.\u00a0 Bryson herself admits nuns couldn’t meet the full requirements of being a military chaplain, so she undermines her own argument.\u00a0 She also acknowledges an attempted female Imam was similarly declined by the Army <\/em>— not any Islamic organization that may have submitted her as a chaplain. In other words, Bryson’s issue of chaplains is with the US military, not the Archdiocese.\u00a0 To the extent the issue actually regards Catholic priests, however — not chaplains — her issue is with the Church.<\/p>\n

As an apparent academic in Islam<\/a>, its unclear what Bryson’s dog is in this fight.<\/p>\n

To be fair, there’s reportedly been a shortage of Catholic chaplains<\/a> in the US military for years.\u00a0 It does not appear, however, that any Catholic organization or chaplain has called on the Catholic church to accept nuns in the role of priests as a result.\u00a0 If it did, then it is entirely possible\u00a0the military would accept the church’s application of its own policies upon its faith leaders, and accept nominees from the Military Archdiocese regardless of gender.<\/p>\n

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