Marine Corps Base Hawaii recently named its chapel for US Navy Chaplain (CAPT) Joseph Estabrook, a Catholic chaplain who had championed the creation of a chapel to house the “roving congregation” on the base: Read more
The Associated Press interviewed a small sampling of chaplains and chaplain endorsers in an apparent attempt to assess the impact of open service by homosexuals following last year’s repeal of the policy best known as “don’t ask, don’t tell.”
One interesting subject was Chaplain (Col) Timothy Wagoner, a Southern Baptist who attended the recent controversial same-sex union ceremony held in a military chapel to show his “support.”
“As a Southern Baptist, why was I here? I was here to lend support,” Wagoner said. “I was here supporting Airman Umali. I’ve worked with him. He’s a comrade in arms.”
“I’m also supporting Chaplain Reeb,” he said. “She gave a beautiful ceremony.” Read more
Archbishop Timothy Broglio, the archbishop of the military, has said one of the unintended consequences of the 2003 invasion of Iraq was the resulting annihilation of the already-minority Christian community:
You can say in a certain sense that the invasion of Iraq did provoke this tremendous diminution of the Christian population in 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
While homosexual ceremonies may be permissible on military institutions according to the Pentagon, it appears that ruling may not extend to the Catholic chapel at West Point.
Taylor Henry, spokesman for Archbishop Timothy Broglio — who oversees all Catholic chaplains in the US military — said
the Holy Trinity chapel at the famous military school is a Catholic parish, unlike the non-denominational chapels that are found on other military installations, and that the only services held there are Catholic services.
Since the Roman Catholic Church “does not perform the sacrament of matrimony for same-sex couples,” no such ceremonies will take place at that institution, Henry said.
In addition, consistent with the military’s message on the matter, Henry explicitly said no Catholic chaplain would be performing similar ceremonies of “unions between individuals of the same gender resembling marriage.”
Broglio also noted what some are saying is an inconsistency between the military’s recent policy and the Defense of Marriage Act: Read more
The Catholic archbishop for the military Chaplaincy, Timothy Broglio, responded to the recent NYT article about “atheist Chaplains” by wondering aloud if such a position would be an oxymoron. Importantly, since atheists can already meet as any other secular group does (like any sports, academic, or other social group), he questioned whether atheists might actually be after a “counter-Chaplaincy” within the Chaplaincy, rather than a positive representation:
“The idea of a ‘chaplaincy’ for atheists seems contradictory,” U.S. Military Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio told CNA. Under present conditions, he said, “it would seem that they could meet and sponsor activities just as many other groups do on installations. Or is the issue here the desire to set up a structure in direct opposition to the chaplaincy?”
He brings up an interesting point. As noted elsewhere, for atheists to meet the intent of the concept of the Chaplaincy, they would essentially need to acknowledge Read more
The shortage of military Catholic Chaplains has been noted here repeatedly. Now, military Archbishop Timothy Broglio has said the shortage is causing Catholic military personnel to seek help from Protestant Chaplains.
Because many in the armed services often face grave situations, [Broglio] said, questions about the meaning of life and the existence of God often surface.
“They are at great risk because there are not nearly enough priests to meet their needs,” he said. Read more
Military Archbishop Timothy Broglio has previously expressed his opposition to the repeal of the policy known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” In a recent article, however, he articulated his opposition not strictly on religious grounds, but on Constitutional ones:
The archbishop explained that while individuals may have a legal right to declare their sexual preferences, they have no comparable “right” to serve in the military at the same time.
Rather, he said, the military reserves to itself the right to deny individuals that privilege — just as soldiers may forfeit the privilege of military service in many other ways, through their speech and behavior. Read more