The archdiocese provides services to Catholics serving in military installations in the United States and overseas, to Catholic staff and patients at Veterans Heath Administration facilities,[2] and to Catholics at other federal services located overseas. The archdiocese does not have a cathedral, nor does it have jurisdiction over any territory; the headquarters are in Washington, D.C.
The archbishop is assisted by several auxiliary bishops. Together, they oversee Catholic priests serving as chaplains throughout the world. Each chaplain remains incardinated into the diocese or religious institute for which he was ordained. In the United States, military chaplains have an officer's rank based on their years of service and promotion selection from among their peers. Chaplains wear the uniform of their respective branch of service, and normally wear clerical attire only during the performance of a religious service. The position of rank and chaplain faith group insignia varies in each military department and may vary significantly from one type of uniform to another within a military department.
Catholic (priest) chaplains are organized in the following active duty branches:
Catholic Chaplains also serve in reserve components of the US Army, Navy, and Air Force and are subject to the AMS when deployed and when in training status:
Additionally, Catholic chaplains are also found among the ranks of State Defense Forces in twenty states in ground, air and naval divisions.
The jurisdiction of the archdiocese extends to Catholics on all United States government property in the United States and abroad, including U.S. military installations, embassies, consulates and other diplomatic missions.[1]
History
During the 19th century, individual Catholic priests ministered to American soldiers and sailors during wartime without any central organizational structure. When the United States entered World War I in 1917, it had 25 Catholic military chaplains. By the end of the war, there were over 1,000. To prevent confusion among these priests over jurisdiction, Pope Benedict XV in November 1917 erected a military diocese of the US armed forces.[4] The pope appointed Auxiliary Bishop Patrick Hayes of the Archdiocese of New York as bishop of this new diocese.[5] Hayes was chosen because New York was the primary port of embarkation for U.S. troops leaving for France and was therefore a convenient contact point for Catholic chaplains serving with them. Hayes established four vicariates within the United States and one for troops overseas.[6]
After Hayes was named archbishop of New York in 1918, he remained in control of the military vicariate. When the war ended in 1919, Hayes dissolved the overseas vicariate, but Hayes kept the four American vicariates. Hayes died in 1938. In 1939, Pope Pius XII named Archbishop Francis Spellman of New York to head the military diocese. During World War II and later, Spellman spent many Christmases with American troops in Japan, South Korea and Europe.[7] Spellman died in 1967. In 1968, a month after being named archbishop of New York by Pope Paul VI, Terence Cooke also became the next head of the military diocese.[8] To assist Cooke with the military diocese, the pope in 1975 appointed Bishop Joseph T. Ryan from the Archdiocese of Anchorage as a coadjutor bishop.[9]Pope John Paul II in 1979 named a retired military chaplain, Rear Admiral John O'Connor as auxiliary bishop for the military diocese.[10] In 1985, O'Connor became archbishop of New York.
On July 21, 1986, John Paul II decided to take responsibility for the military services away from the archbishop of New York. He instead erected a separate Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA.[11] Ryan became its first archbishop. Ryan retired in 1991.[9] The second archbishop of the Military Services was Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Dimino, a veteran of the US Navy Chaplain Corps. He was appointed by John Paul II in 1991.[12] In 1993, Dimino expressed his opposition to allowing LBGTQ+ persons to serve in the military to President Bill Clinton, saying that admitting gay men would have "disastrous consequences for all concerned."[13] While archbishop, Dimino added his support to a campaign started by John Paul II to eliminate the use of land mines.[14]
John Paul II named Auxiliary Bishop Edwin O'Brien of New York, a veteran of the US Army Chaplain Corps, as a coadjutor archbishop in 1997 to assist Dimino. When Dimino retired later in 1997 due to poor health, O'Brien automatically succeeded him as archbishop.[15] During his 10 years as archbishop of the Military Services, O'Brien divided his time between visiting American troops and working with the Pontifical North American College. In 1993, he initiated the cause of canonization for Emil Kapaun, a US Army chaplain killed during the Korean War.[16]
In 2006, O'Brien noted that declining public support for the Iraq War was leading to a decrease in morale among the troops, adding, "The news only shows cars being blown up, but the soldiers see hospitals being built and schools opening."[17] By 2007, he believed that the status of US operations in Iraq "compels an assessment of our current circumstances and the continuing obligation of the Church to provide a moral framework for public discussion."[18] In 2007, O'Brien became archbishop of the Archdiocese of Baltimore.
In 2012, Catholic Extension approved a $56,000 two year grant to the Archdiocese for the Military Services to support faith formation programs for Catholics in the United States military.[21] As of April 2013, about 25% of the U.S. armed forces were Catholic.[22]
As of 2017, the Archdiocese had 208 priests on active duty serving approximately 1.8 million people.[23]
The Geneva Conventions state (Protocol I, June 8, 1977, Art 43.2) that chaplains are noncombatants: they do not have the right to participate directly in hostilities. Captured chaplains are not considered prisoners of war (Third Convention, August 12, 1949, Chapter IV Art 33) and must be returned to their home nation unless retained to minister to prisoners of war.
Reports of sexual abuse
Army
In 1985, Reverend Alvin L. Campbell from the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois plead guilty to sexual abuse of minor. A former military chaplain, Campbell had been reprimanded by the Army for committing "indecent homosexual acts with a child". After leaving the Army, he was allowed to transfer to the Diocese of Springfield, where he committed his charged crimes. Sentenced to 14 years in prison, Campbell served seven years and was removed from public ministry by the archdiocese.[25][26]
In 2000, Reverend Mark Matson, an Army chaplain, was convicted of molesting a 13-year-old boy while serving at Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu. Matson received 20 years in prison.[27][25]
In 2005, Reverend Gregory Arflack was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting three US Marines in Qatar.[28]
Air Force
In 1991, Reverend Thomas Chleboski, an Air Force chaplain, pled guilty to five counts of molesting a 13-year-old boy in 1989 and received a 20-year prison sentence.[29][30] He was accused of luring his victim with tours of Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.[31]
Reverend Barry Ryan, a chaplain who served two years in prison for separate acts of sex abuse he committed in 2003, was removed from the archdiocese in 1995 after allegations surfaced that he committed acts of sex abuse against a minor in 1994.[25][32]
In April 2019, Colonel Arthur Perrault, an Air Force chaplain, was convicted of sexually abusing an altar boy. The attacks took place at Kirtland Air Force Base, at an amusement park and a veterans' cemetery in New Mexico in the early 1990s.[30][33] Perrault was serving in the Air National Guard when the abuse took place.[25] To avoid accusations of child abuse, Perrault disappeared in 1992. He was located in Morocco in 2018 and was extradited to the United States. In September 2019, Perrault was convicted and sentenced to 30 years in prison.[30][34]
Navy
Reverend Neal Destefano with the US Navy Chaplain Corps was convicted in 1994 of sexually molesting two unconscious Marines after plying them with alcohol. He was dismissed from the service and sentenced to five years in federal prison.[35]
In 2007, Reverend John Thomas Lee with the Navy pleaded guilty to forcible sodomy and other charges. While serving at the US Naval Academy at Quantico in 2004, he forced a midshipman to engage in oral sex. Court martialled in 2007, Lee was sentenced to two years in prison.[36]
Reverend Anthony Rey – One of the first two Catholic chaplains in the Army, vice president of Georgetown College (1845).[37] First Catholic chaplain killed in service.
Reverend John P. Chidwick – Served with the Navy on USS Maine when it was destroyed in 1898 in Havana harbor. He helped coordinate the burial of sailors and their later reburials at Arlington National Cemetery[40]
Reverend Francis P. Duffy – Served with the Army 69th Infantry Regiment in France. Helped rescue numerous wounded soldiers under enemy fire. Was awarded the Army Distinguished Service Medal, the Conspicuous Service Cross, the Légion d'Honneur and the Croix de Guerre. Most decorated chaplain in Army history.
A US Navy Catholic chaplain celebrates Mass for Marines on Saipan, June 1944, commemorating those who died during amphibious landings there.
Reverend William R. Arnold – Served as Army chief of chaplains 1937 to 1945, first Catholic to hold that post. Later served as Apostolic Vicar for the U.S. Armed Forces
Reverend Thomas J. Barrett – Served with the Army in Burma, died in service.[42]
Reverend William A. Irwin – Served with the Army in England, died in service[47]
Reverend Alfred W. Johnson – Served with the Army in England, died in service[48]
Reverend Francis J. McManus – Served with the Navy on the USS Canopus (AS-9) in the Philippines. Died while prisoner of war or lost at sea.[49]
Reverend Joseph T. O'Callahan – Served with the Navy on the USS Franklin (CV-13) in the Pacific. Performed heroic actions during Japanese bombing of the ship. Was awarded the Medal of Honor.[50]
Reverend John A. Ryan - Served with the Army in Japan. Was allegedly murdered there by another soldier.[51]
Reverend Joseph T. Ryan – Served with Navy at the Battle of Okinawa in the Pacific, was decorated for bravery. Appointed as the first archbishop of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA.[52]
Reverend Aloysius H. Schmitt – Served with Navy on USS Oklahoma during the Pearl Harbor attack. Exhibiting heroism in helping multiple sailors escape a flooding compartment. Was first US chaplain to die in World War II. Awarded Silver Star and other commendations.[53]
Reverend William J. Walsh - Air Force Catholic chaplain. Celebrated the first mass since the fifth century in Greenland in 1942.
Reverend John P. Washington – Served with the Army, exhibited heroism in the sinking of the troop transport ship SS Dorchester in the Atlantic Ocean. Known as one of the Four Chaplains on that ship.
Reverend Herman G. Felhoelter – Served with the Army 24th Infantry Division in Korea. Executed by North Korean troops while ministering to wounded soldiers. Was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.[55][56]
Reverend Patrick J. Ryan – Served as Army chief of chaplains from 1954 to 1958
Vietnam War
Reverent Robert R. Brett – Served with the Navy in South Vietnam, killed during Tet offensive after declining his seat on a departing helicopter[62][63]
Reverend Vincent R. Capodanno – Served with the Navy, killed in action in South Vietnam while tending to wounded and dying. Awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously.[64]
Reverend Edwin R. Chess – Served as Air Force chief of chaplains from 1966 to 1970
Reverend John F. Laboon Jr. – Served with the Navy in South Vietnam, decorated for bravery in combat
Reverend Francis L. Sampson – Served as the Army chief of chaplains from 1967 to 1971
Reverend Charles J. Watters – Served with the Army in South Vietnam, killed in action during the Battle of Dak To. Awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously for heroic actions saving the wounded.[65]
Cold War (post-Vietnam)
Reverend John A. Collins – Served as the Air Force chief of chaplains from 1982 to 1985
^A Servant of God, Father Kapaun died in a POW camp and was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor on April 11, 2013 by President Barack Obama. Milburn, John, "Army says Kansas Army chaplain Rev. Kapaun worthy of Medal of Honor for service in Korean War"[permanent dead link], Associated Press, October 13, 2009. Baltimore Sun website. Retrieved October 15, 2009. The article includes an undated photo (released by the Catholic Diocese of Wichita), showing Fr. Kapaun saying Mass in the field.
^On Chaplains Hill in Arlington National Cemetery is a monument for 83 Catholic chaplains who died in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.
^Norby, Pat (May 28, 1992). "Rev. Mr. Timothy Vakoc". The Catholic Bulletin. p. 16.
^Scroll down – through the 32 ecclesiastical provinces (in alphabetical order) – to the Washington archdiocese, below which is the Military Services archdiocese and its archbishop and auxiliary bishops.
