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Called to Serve Catholics in the Military
An Interview with Archbishop Timothy Broglio and those who serve with him
By Karen A. Walker
 Archdiocesan Shield: The coat of arms of the Archdiocese for the Military Services is divided into three sections, one in red, one in silver or white, and one in blue--the traditional colors of the United States. In the uppermost portion, there is an American Bald Eagle holding in each claw the universal symbol of peace, a green olive branch. In the middle portion, there is a silver cross on the outline meridians of the earth. In the lowest, the red portion of these arms, are the gold and silver crossed keys of Saint Peter, the symbol of the Holy See. The composition of the arms conveys the message and mission of the Archdiocese for the Military Services--to be Americans carrying peace; to carry Christ all over the world; and to act as a liaison for the United States and the Holy See.
Credit: the Archdiocese for the Military Services
Archbishop Timothy Broglio was installed as the fourth Archbishop of the Military Services, USA, on January 25, 2008. He leads America's only diocese without borders, the Archdiocese for Military Services, USA (AMS). Based out of Washington DC, Archbishop Broglio is charged with the spiritual well-being of U.S. military personnel stationed around the world. In March 2010, The Official Catholic Directory interviewed Archbishop Broglio regarding this unique archdiocese, its function and operation, its chaplains, vocations, and the breadth of individuals it serves. In addition to the archbishop's interview, several chaplains and a seminarian studying in Rome offer further insights from their varied perspectives.
Q. Archbishop Broglio, what is the unique function of the Archdiocese for the Military Services?
A. The Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA (hereafter AMS) differs from all others in that one is a member not by where he resides, but by the position he or she occupies. Subjects or faithful of the AMS are all Catholic active duty military of the five branches [U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, and U.S. Coast Guard] and their immediate family members and dependents or family residing with them, Catholics in the four Military Academies and the Merchant Marine Academy, patients in Veterans' Administration facilities and any personnel of those facilities who reside in them, any Catholic who is employed by the Federal Government (including contractors) and works outside of the boundaries of the United States of America.
The AMS receives no funding from the government and unlike territorial dioceses has no regular source of funding. There is no cathedraticum (a percentage of the Sunday collection given to territorial dioceses). All programs, staff, and travel by the personnel of the AMS must be funded through donations. The geographic area of the AMS is global: anywhere that there are U.S. forces or embassies, the AMS has jurisdiction. With the exception of Holy Trinity at West Point there are no canonically erected parishes in the AMS. All are chapels (some of which are dedicated only for Catholic worship). Any installation that has a Catholic chaplain must also have a Blessed Sacrament Chapel used exclusively for that purpose.
Q. What is the unique call of Catholic military chaplains?
A. In the AMS, the term "chaplain" is used exclusively for Catholic priests. They are all ordained for and incardinated in a territorial diocese or a religious order. To serve in the military they must be U.S. citizens. They can choose the branch of the military in which they desire to serve, provided that they meet the requirements of that branch (age, physical condition, etc.).
A chaplain serves the needs of the Catholic community. He becomes their "parish" priest, is the DRE for the religious education program. He must also meet the needs of others who come to him. His is also an ecumenical and interreligious minister. He will also have other military duties to which he must attend.
Q. How would you describe the distinctness of a Catholic military chaplain?
A. Given that all AMS chaplains are priests incardinated in another diocese or religious order, each one has his own vocation story. They are first and foremost called to the Priesthood of Jesus Christ. The specific nature of their calling as a chaplain stems from a variety of factors. Many of our chaplains have served in the military in the past. Remember, 10% of those ordained in the United States for the last several years were prior servicemen. The AMS also has an active co-sponsored seminarian program. There are currently 25 young men studying in seminaries across the U.S. and at the North American College who, in accord with their bishops, will serve three years in a diocesan parish and then serve for a specified number of years in the branch of the military of their choice.
A Catholic military chaplain must be a well-rounded priest who is secure in his role and ministry, able to work in an ecumenical setting, ready and willing to serve in a war zone, creative, a self starter, and a compassionate man eager to meet the needs of the young entrusted to his care (the average age of Catholics in the military is from 18 to 28). He must be able to move frequently and able to deal with others who move frequently.
A chaplain who works for the VA must be prepared to care for the sick and also the victims of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He, too, must work in an ecumenical setting and be ready to deal with a variety of situations and settings that are not always under his control. The independence of each VA center makes very true the adage, "When you have seen one VA hospital, you have seen one VA hospital."
These characteristics allow the priest to serve the faithful in a time of war when there is a severe shortage of priests. Families are particularly victimized by the deployment and the war. The chaplain brings a unique perspective and assists these young families. The VA chaplain must deal with both young and old. He, too, must reach out to the families and console those who mourn.
Q. With no prior military experience, how did you become the archbishop of this diocese?
A. I spent 29 years of ordained ministry either in preparation for, or in service as, a member of the diplomatic corps of the Holy See. When I returned to the United States in 2008, I had not lived in this country since 1979.
I was the Apostolic Nuncio in the Dominican Republic and the Apostolic Delegate in Puerto Rico when the superiors in the Secretariat of State asked if I would accept a nomination as the Archbishop for the Military Services in the U.S.
Q. What are your greatest challenges?
A. My greatest challenges are also my goals. There is a severe shortage of military chaplains (but not of VA chaplains). Religious education must somehow be standardized and improved so that those who frequently change assignments can easily fit into the new setting and program. Finally, given the tenuous financial situation of the AMS, my goal is to assure a constant and regular source of income to allow the AMS to function as it should in the service of its faithful.
Q. What are your greatest joys?
A. The joys of this ministry are the people involved in it. I have been deeply impressed by the men and women I am privileged to serve. Their dedication, willingness to participate, love of country and family are virtues to be cultivated. I am humbled by their appreciation for the little I am able to do. Visiting the military academies has been a great source of hope. The young men and women there are fine, dedicated youth who offer great promise for the future. I am always eager to spend time with them. Their enthusiasm is contagious. Finally, my visits to those who are deployed in the war zone and in other hardship posts have been great lessons in sacrifice, commitment, and duty. The US can be very proud of those who serve our country.
 Archbishop Broglio washes soliders' feet in Camp Victory, Iraq, on Holy Thursday 2009.
Credit for this photograph: Sgt. Neil W. McCabe
Q. What advice would you give to future chaplains, or to those priests who are considering this service?
A. In terms of advice to future chaplains, the key is ministry which means service. We all respond to a call at ordination and we all have an idea as to how we will live that call, but it is really Almighty God and the Church that ultimately determine the needs and the best use of our talents. Authentic ministry is openness to that call and determination. It is the move from my priesthood to the priesthood of Jesus Christ determined by His Church.
Serving the Flock
The Official Catholic Directory also interviewed three chaplains and a seminarian in Rome.
"After having called the Twelve to follow him, Jesus kept them at his side and lived with them, imparting his teaching of salvation to them through word and example...
—Pope John Paul II
Q. What is it like to be a chaplain?
A. "A chaplain is a very special vocation. Not everyone is cut out for it," says Fr. Aidan Logan, O.C.S.O., a Cistercian monk who has served nearly 20 years in the U.S. Naval Chaplain Corps. He is now a commander (level O-5, the equivalent of a lieutenant colonel in the Army), and head chaplain of the 2nd U.S. Marine Corps' infantry division on the East Coast, stationed at Camp LeJeune, NC.
"You have to be able to sustain yourself without support of community," explains Fr. Aidan. "Often you're the only priest in a place. You have to be able to stand on your own two feet."
He adds: "You have to be a good priest first. That's why you come in as a chaplain, to be a priest. We don't need more sailors or soldiers. We have plenty. We need priests…You don't want to come into the military because you're uncomfortable with your priesthood. You must be sure and confident in your priesthood….And it helps if you're physically fit – that's important for any priest anyway. You have to be tough to be a priest!"
Certain responsibilities are common to all chaplains—they provide for the sacramental needs of Catholics in their unit as well as for the religious and morale needs of all the troops in their unit, they are not allowed to carry weapons, they live and mingle daily with the troops. Yet each military branch has its own "culture" as well.
"For the Army you have to like the outdoors," says Fr. Paul Anthony Halladay, a chaplain with the rank of captain in the U.S. Army who has been a chaplain for six years, after four prior years as a parish priest in Alabama. "You can't be squeamish about cold and heat, and you can't be afraid to get dirty and wet."
"For the Navy," Fr. Halladay continues, "most everything happens on ships. You don't have to factor in the outdoors as much. The Air Force [chaplain] is more like a parish priest than other branches, and the Marines is most similar to Army chaplains because you're outside a lot."
"Navy chaplains deploy all the time," adds Fr. Aidan. "It's different from the Air Force and Army. The Navy are always on the ships, like cops on the beat, ready to respond to what situations might come up—piracy, threats, keeping sea lanes open. They're kind of the 911 sea response team."
"Commanders call chaplains ‘force multipliers,'" says Fr. Halladay. "While we don't bring the heat so to speak, carry weapons, nor are we combatants, we do help keep soldiers focused, prepared and ready to do their job. We help soldiers to be the best soldiers they can be, particularly when that is compromised by what they had to do in defense of this nation."
Different from a parish priest
"As a parish priest, and I was a parish priest for four years before entering the Army, you really live within a Catholic bubble. There's little opportunity to have dialog and interaction with people outside the bubble, you're too busy," Fr. Halladay notes. "But as a military chaplain, you are immediately thrown in the midst of all faiths! As a chaplain, you work every day with chaplains of different faiths, coordinating religious services for the troops and with soldiers of the Catholic faith, another faith, or no faith at all."
"Also, I work right along side these same soldiers—in field exercises, command staff meetings, and in administrative decisions within a battalion. We go out on field exercises together. We'll train for the eventuality of mass casualties and that includes making sure soldiers of all faiths have what they need," continues Fr. Halladay.
Fr. Aidan concurs: "From the first day, we're cheek to jowl with Protestants. We see quickly the strength of our faith and the need for absolute clarity about our Catholic faith because there are other chaplains around to whom the troops can go…You have the opportunity to explain what you believe, and why. Most of the Protestant chaplains have never met a Catholic priest in their lives and now they're living with one! There's a good ecumenical side to it!"
Responsible, Prepared
"A chaplain compiles a religious preference profile for the soldiers in his command, including dietary needs," explains Fr. Halladay. "On Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, a Catholic soldier cannot eat meat, on the feast of Ramadan, a Muslim soldier can only eat before dawn and after sunset —you have to make sure appropriate rations are available. I also must put in for all the things I need for Mass, and I must prepare for a minimum of six months, based on the Catholic population in my battalion—things like the wine and hosts. I have to estimate how many soldiers will attend daily and Sunday Masses, and plan appropriately. When you're on a field exercise, and then later deployed, if you're not prepared, you don't have it!"
On deployment, ensuring soldiers' religious needs are met may often mean bringing in another chaplain from another unit, such as flying in a Navy chaplain to say Mass for Army troops in Afghanistan.
Attentive to the soul, the inner man
Saint Jean Vianney wrote: "The priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus." Military chaplains live that every day.
A commander relies on his chaplain to know the pulse of the troops under his command. Troops lean on their chaplain for spiritual, religious, personal and morale issues.
"You're right there, right alongside with the troops," explains Fr. Halladay, who clearly loves what he does, just like every chaplain we interviewed. "They might show me a particular weapon, or what they're learning on preventative maintenance of their vehicles, or in grenade training, or at the shooting range."
"I'll ask how they're doing. They'll talk about their personal lives. Just conversation. You're there for them, and they know that what they tell you isn't going anywhere else."
"If a unit is training really hard for deployment and it's starting to show in terms of family problems –for example you start hearing, ‘Hey, chaplain, my wife and I aren't getting along. We have different schedules and we're not seeing each other,' etc…"
"You get enough of those comments and you talk to your commander, saying maybe it's time for an Organizational Day—where the commander suspends all operations in the battalion and everyone comes together for recreation, all families included. It might be held in the middle of the week, say on a Wednesday. Troops are on a hard grind for deployment and then they get a day off—it's a huge morale boost. Fr. Halladay continues. "You want soldiers well-prepared for maybe a year deployment. One of biggest things we do as chaplains is to keep up morale in a unit. It's important."
Being there when it counts
Andy Young graduated from the Naval Academy, entered the Marine Corps (USMC), and served two tours, in Afghanistan and Iraq. He was part of the invasion force that went from Kuwait to Iraq after 9-11 and left the military with the rank of Captain, USMC. Now he's a seminarian, studying in Rome for the Diocese of Sioux Falls, SD. He's also a chaplain candidate for the U.S. Navy.
"At Camp Pendleton I'd go to daily Mass and it would be me and the priest, and maybe one or two others," says Mr. Young. "But when we were deployed and in Kuwait, waiting to go into Iraq, we'd have 70 to 80 people at daily Mass, and long lines for confession. When things are tough, people turn to God. When you're in a war zone, when you don't know what the next day will hold for you, you want to be clean of sin, at least I did."
"A chaplain can be a mediator to bring people to know Christ, especially in deployment, away from family and home." Mr. Young adds. "These young soldiers are alone, scared. They're looking for anything—peace, hope, ultimate meaning in life. Christ is the answer to all of it. When things go bad, you turn to the only person who can console you."
Don't forget the veterans!
Fr. James Burnett retired from the Air Force in 1999. For 10 years he's been serving veterans with the Veterans Administration. He is the chief of chaplain services at Hines VA Hospital in Chicago; president, National Conference of Veterans Affairs Chaplains (NCVAC); and a board certified chaplain for NCVAC. The NCVAC has 340 Catholic priests in various salaried positions within the VA system.
Hines is one of the largest hospitals in the VA system, serving 500 patients with needs ranging from spinal cord injuries and blindness rehab, to elder care, hospice and more. He has nine chaplains on his staff. For six of the ten years Fr. Burnett worked in hospice care. He is thrilled that a new hospice wing of the hospital is opening, saying that they serve up to 22 hospice patients at any given time.
"People ask me if it's depressing to be involved in hospice. Not at all!" responds Fr. Burnett. "It's very pleasing to be there in the last days of a veteran, who has served his country well. Now it's our turn to serve him."
Q. Why did you become a military chaplain?
A. "I'd been giving priests retreats for years," says Fr. Aidan. "A number of chaplains came on these retreats. They were the happiest priests I'd ever seen, whereas the others were burned out with low morale. I was impressed with the chaplains. When the Gulf War came on in '91, I got calls to become a chaplain. …I asked my superior. He said yes. My spiritual director said yes. So here I am today, back where I first started, in Camp LeJeune."
Fr. Burnett has a different story: "I wanted to see the world. I was priest in southeast Iowa, serving two parishes, and looking for something else. On a visit with friends near Bellville, Ill., we were joined one dinner by someone who was on active duty at nearby Scott Air Force Base. He gave me a tour of the base, showed me the chapel and I met the Catholic chaplain. He wasn't very friendly and I thought, ‘I could do better than that.' So I went home, prayed about it, and then asked permission of my bishop to serve in the military. He said OK!"
Upon retirement, Fr. Burnett applied for chief of chaplain services at Hines VA. "I felt a calling from the Lord to get the word out about what's happening with the returning veterans from Afghanistan and Iraq," he says.
Challenges
"One of the greatest challenges is loneliness," says Fr. Paul Halladay, although he's quick to enumerate his abundant joys after explaining what he means. "You're the only chaplain in your battalion. You're the one everyone comes to with personal and religious issues. As a Catholic priest you're typically the only Catholic priest in your brigade so there's not another priest you can talk to close by."
Another challenge is the shortage of priests in the military, especially in the Army. That means a chaplain often pulls double and triple duty.
"My Army rank makes me a battalion chaplain, "says Fr. Halladay. "But because of my religious denomination as a Catholic priest, I often work as the only Catholic priest on a post, which is 25,000 to 35,000 troops…We have more than 1,000 people at Mass each weekend. I run all the Catholic programs, etc."
Fr. Burnett sees another challenge, namely to help to ease the transition of a veteran back home. One lament is that most hometown clergy, who are often too busy, don't understand the unique problems, or what's needed for healing, of a veteran.
"In as little as two weeks, a soldier can go from active duty to a VA hospital," says Fr. Burnett. "It's hard to wrap your head around that; their heads are spinning…It's important for local clergy to understand terms such as traumatic brain injury, post traumatic stress disorder, poly trauma (multiple problems), so they know what they're getting and how to deal with it."
Over the last two years, Fr. Burnett held two well-attended conferences, both funded by his regional VA, to educate non-military priests on how to understand the specific needs of veterans in their community. Topics included the way different cultures express emotions, how female veterans process battle scars differently from men, and the symptoms of traumatic brain injury, which is a hidden wound, a shaking of the brain. A soldier might return not knowing his children, not able to communicate with his spouse, or remember his job even though he's done if for years. "They often end up at the VA as the last ultimatum of his wife," says Fr. Burnett. "There also can be problems in a marriage when the returning veteran feels like a stranger in his own home. He's gone through so much trauma in his deployment while his spouse had to run everything in his absence. It's good for priests to know how to deal with these things."
Joys
"The greatest joys of being a chaplain? There's a lot of those.' says Fr. Halladay without hesitation. "I'd say bringing someone back to their faith—bringing them to a renewed appreciation of faith in their life—that's one of the best feelings in the world."
Fr. Halladay continues: "You run the RCIA program, bring them into church at Easter – beautiful. You prepare for marriage. It's wonderful…just being available for a soldier for what he had to do for our country, psychologically and physically—to know you have that role in someone's life is phenomenal!"
"It's an opportunity to give a masculine face to the Catholic faith," notes Fr. Aiden. "One of the problems of parishes can be that there are not a lot of strong masculine models there, but you're mostly with men in a military environment."
Fr. Aidan adds, "You help soldiers to understand there's an adult way to be a Catholic. Most guys run on fumes. They remember something of their faith from their grandmother and mother but there's not much adult to it – even for those with kids, their faith is centered around their kids. But in the military, you show them it's an adult thing, that there's an adult way to live the faith."
Another of Fr. Aidan's joys happened recently. On an annual pilgrimage with midshipmen from the Naval Academy to Rome, he was surprised to find that a young man he'd known in the medical corps was now in the seminary, inspired by Fr. Aidan.
For Fr. Burnett, his greatest joy is serving the needs of the veterans as a veteran himself, adding "It's a joy to enlighten hometown clergy on returning veterans."
Q. Has it changed you?
A. "Absolutely." says Fr. Aiden. "But that's just life. I think I've become more confirmed in my faith and priesthood; partly because I get to deal with people all the time who don't have the faith and I see what a lack it is. I also see what it means to be a Catholic – to have the faith in extreme situations and to see how it changes people."
 Father Thomas Falkenthal, CHC, USN celebrates the Eucharist with Marines at the summit of the Sierra Nevada Mountains
Credit: Photograph provided by the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA
"The largest single group who enters the seminary has served in military," says Fr. Aidan. "The
Naval Academy is 52 percent Catholic. West Point is about 1/3 Catholic."
"You see the need for Catholic chaplains," says Mr. Young. "In an emergency situation, a Catholic priest can run any service, whereas no one else can consecrate the Eucharist or say Mass."
Fr. Burnett is among many chaplains with high praise for their archbishop, crediting him with helping to foster an increased awareness of the chaplaincy and an increase in vocations. "When I applied to the VA 10 years ago," he says, "I was the only Catholic priest applying. Now we have many applications. Three years ago we had 100 VA chaplains. Now we are 340 strong. See what the Lord is doing! Priests who apply to work here want to give back to veterans for serving our country."
But plenty more chaplains are needed.
"There's a huge potential for vocations in the military," Fr. Halladay points out, citing that 18% of all ordinations in the U.S. over the past 10 years have come from those with previous military service or from a military family."
"Any priest who is sent to the military is like an investment. He goes in, and he returns with vocations for you," adds Fr. Halladay. "The backbone of the military is made up of unmarried men between the ages of 18 to 24."
And when Mr. Young describes the marks of a good soldier—love of country and God over self, integrity, obedience, courage—they echo the marks of a good military chaplain, which, for Mr. Young, include dedication to leading his flock and showing his love for Christ. As he puts it, "If you're doing five or six Masses a day, that's tough. We need chaplains who are willing to give 110% every day!…They are living examples of what it means to follow Christ."
"Those who are serving their country need to have Catholic priests serving with them," says Mr. Young. "How else will they receive the sacraments? It's so important and yet it's something we so easily take for granted because most of us can receive sacraments any time we want…at any parish church."
"This is a beautiful way to be a priest," sums up Fr. Halladay. "It's also a very needed ministry."
KAREN A. WALKER is Editor and Publisher of the Catholic Business Journal and Producer of The Catholic Business Hour radio show.
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