Terrence Jeffrey at CNS News asks an interesting question:
Is President Barack Obama more deferential to the religious sensibilities of Afghan Muslims or the religious freedom of American Catholics?
Read his answer.
Prominent milblogger BlackFive obtained a copy of a US Army memo from Afghanistan restricting the distribution of Qurans:
Qurans will only be distributed to US Servicemembers who are Muslim as indicated on their identification tags…Exceptions…will be granted if the Service Member has a memorandum signed by his Commander that states the reason for obtaining a Quran provided by the chaplain.
Qurans will not be placed in general literature distribution racks. They will be kept in a secure location…
The memo is signed by US Army Chaplain (LTC) Eric Albertson, a Catholic Read more
A Naval flight training class graduation included a ceremony at their base chapel in which the chaplains performed a “blessing of the wings:”
This is a completely voluntary program, but one that is rather popular among many of the new aviators. While it is billed as a non-denominational ceremony, it is clearly a Christian program that culminates in the Catholic priest sprinkling holy water on the wings that these service members are about to pin on later that day.
Normally, this might bring conspiracy-theory advocates out of the woodwork, claiming this was further evidence of a secret coup by Christians to take over the world. Or something. Turns out, though, this story is actually about the participation by the US Navy’s newest Jewish Naval Aviators, in a Read more
US Army Major Ray Bradley wants military records to be altered so he can express his religion as “humanist,” which is not currently an option.
[Bradley] can’t be designated as a humanist on his official records or dog tags, although he can be classified as an atheist.
The distinction may not seem like a large one to those unfamiliar with humanism, but the Fort Bragg-based officer says it’s the equivalent of being told that “Christian” is an acceptable designation, but not “Catholic.”
“Humanism is a philosophy that guides a person,” Bradley said. “It’s more than just a stamp of what you’re not.”
As to the confusion about whether atheists are humanists, or vice versa: Read more
Sailors and Marines from the USS Whidbey Island were able to visit Rome in January and received a blessing from Pope Benedict XVI while there.
The group traveled from Naples to Rome to attend Pope Benedict’s weekly Wednesday general audience at Vatican City.
The pope welcomed groups from all over the world and then specifically mentioned the U.S. service members. “I also greet the group of Sailors and Marines from the United States and accord to you and your families God’s abundant blessings.”
Not all of the troops were Catholic, but Read more
Update: The Army defended its actions, with FoxNews saying it was a “cautionary move to preserve “military order and discipline,”” not censorship.
In a surprisingly underreported story, the US Army reportedly censored — and then admitted the wrong of censoring — US military Catholic chaplains during their performance of their Catholic Mass. Catholic priests were apparently given letters to read to their parishes explaining the Catholic opposition to the Department of Health and Human Services mandate requiring insurance coverage for things that violate Catholic beliefs.
On Thursday, January 26, Archbishop Broglio emailed a pastoral letter to Catholic military chaplains with instructions that it be read from the pulpit at Sunday Masses the following weekend in all military chapels. The letter calls on Catholics to resist the policy initiative, recently affirmed by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, for federally mandated health insurance covering sterilization, abortifacients and contraception, because it represents a violation of the freedom of religion recognized by the U.S. Constitution.
The US Army’s Chaplaincy office responded: Read more
Chris Carroll at the Stars and Stripes notes the importance of Catholic chaplains to a large majority of the US military population — and yet the marked shortage of priests in the military as a whole.
Searching for bombs day in and day out, [US Army SPC Joe] Murphy needed the reassuring hand of his faith more than ever, but because of a worsening shortage of Catholic chaplains in Afghanistan and throughout the military, it had never been more difficult to practice it.
“The only time in Afghanistan I ever saw a priest was Read more
Anglican Chaplain (LtCol) Harry Ndirangu, Kenyan Ministry of State for Defense, was invited to preach to US forces at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, as part of an ongoing chaplain interaction program.
Ndirangu visited for three weeks as part of a program that invites Kenyan chaplains to share best practices with the religious Read more