For all the territory it covers, the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA (AMS) operates somewhat under the radar.
Established by Pope John Paul II in 1985, the AMS serves both in the U.S. and in more than 130 other countries with some form of American military presence.
In the last several years, different numbers have surfaced regarding the number of military priests. According to the AMS website, there are 275 full-time, part-time, and contract Catholic priests currently serving the military archdiocese.
The AMS oversees the ecclesiastical care of 1.8 million Catholics worldwide. Aside from military service members, this number includes patients at Veterans Affairs medical centers and U.S. government employees at consulates, embassies and other locations abroad.
It’s an atypical archdiocese in that it’s without any defined territory. At the same time, it basically covers the entire planet.
The AMS is the only U.S. diocese that does not have its own cathedral, though it holds prominent ceremonies at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.
Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, J.C.D. was installed as the fourth archbishop AMS in January 2008 and is also the President of the USCCB (2022-2025). While Catholic clergy have served alongside the U.S. military since the Mexican-American War, Archbishop Broglio traces the military archdiocese back to the World War I era, when the auxiliary bishop of New York was assigned the responsibility for overseeing military priests.
In 1939, the Vatican established the Military Vicariate of the U.S., but the U.S. military did not have an independent archdiocese until 1985.
About 20 percent of U.S. military members are Catholic, but Catholics are significantly underrepresented among military chaplains.
In 2021, Archbishop Broglio stated that the military is the country’s largest individual source of priestly vocations. At the same time, the military still has a priest shortage, with numbers declining by more than half within a two-decade span.
Finding replacements is not so easy. “There must be a two-fold interest: first, to be a priest and, second, to be a priest in the military,” relates Fr. Thomas S. Foley, a U.S. Air Force chaplain stationed at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho.
“Serving as a priest for the military is a call within a call,” says Fr. Bill Appel, a former Marine as well as a priest from the Diocese of Covington (KY) who has served as a chaplain with the Coast Guard and will soon serve with the Marines.
Appel describes the process of entering this dual-vocation, “If there is a call on the heart of the priest, or even seminarian, to serve as a chaplain for the U.S. military, he would get permission from his [bishop or archbishop] to begin communicating with the AMS. He would begin his priesthood with his home diocese in the normal course of events for a few years or more. If accepted as a military chaplain, he would then serve with the AMS for a finite amount of time, after which he would return to his home diocese.”
Foley, who came from the Boston Archdiocese, joined the AMS in 2012 after hearing about a growing need for military chaplains from priests returning to the Boston area.
Foley mentions that military priests should be “willing to relocate regularly” and “able to function well away from home diocese, family, and priest-friends.”
AMS priests tend to change their location of service every two to three years.
Some AMS priests are themselves former military persons. Fr. Will Cook, a recently ordained priest in the Savannah (GA) diocese, is a former Marine who attained the rank of captain. He is on a plan to leave for active-duty service as a military priest in two years.
“I really enjoyed my time in the Marine Corps,” Cook says. “I love the culture and the camaraderie, and because I personally benefited so much from my time in the Marine Corps, it only seems right to want to go back and help mentor the younger Marines.”
Cook felt called to the priesthood the year after he left the Marine Corps, while volunteering with an organization run by the Salesian Sisters. “It opened my eyes to the beauty of our faith, and the joy that comes from completely dedicating myself to trying to do the Will of God,” he says.
The military priest calling is not without risks.
The first Catholic clergy killed while serving the U.S. military was Fr. Anthony Rey, S.J., who was fatally wounded during the Mexican-American War in 1847.
The most recent Catholic clergy killed was Fr. Tim Vakoc, who was gravely wounded in the Iraq War in 2004 and later died from his injuries in 2009.
The Geneva Conventions state that military clergy are noncombatants who, if captured alongside combatants, should not be regarded as prisoners of war.
Even though military priests are noncombatants, they still have to meet physical fitness standards specific to their military branch. “Chaplains must meet these physical standards, but are never involved in training with weapons,” says Foley.
Masses are conducted in English. As Foley points out, “U.S. service members and their dependents speak English even if it is their second language.”
Foley says Catholic clergy have “frequent, regular interaction” with non-Catholic service members.
Echoing this statement is Fr. Jerzy Rzasowski, who serves as a deputy command chaplain with the U.S. Army in Europe. Rzasowski says Catholic clergy interact with all service members and their families regardless of their religious background (or lack of one).
Born, raised and ordained in Poland, Rzasowski had originally intended to serve as a missionary in Latin America. But a passport-related issue led him to change destinations and enter the U.S. Army chaplaincy. “It was much more interesting than serving on the civilian parish,” he relates.
Rzasowski says that, in terms of finding new priests, the AMS is struggling about the same as a typical U.S. archdiocese. But the AMS is not a typical archdiocese, and it attracts a certain type of priest who seeks to serve those who serve — safeguarding freedom and faith in a world often hostile to both.
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I’ve spoken to several priests who wanted to be military chaplains, but their Bishops/ Abbott/Prior would not give them permission with the reason given that the diocese doesn’t have enough priests and can’t afford to give the priest up to the AMS.
Fewer priests on active duty means some billets have priority over others (Sea duty aboard an aircraft carrier vs shore duty at a major naval base). The military services are reluctant to hire contract priests primarily because they want to save the roughly $80K/year contract and use the money elsewhere. The result is empty base chapels around the country where service members and their families use to worship but who knows must go off-base into the civilian community for their Spiritual needs.
Given today’s declining attendance at Mass and all the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion training service members are required to attend, it’s no wonder that the Catholic Church is viewed as hostile to their secular agenda, and therefore, military chaplains, especially priests, are not a priority to senior DoD leadership.
A bit disturbing to read that now there are only 275 priests now in the entire military.
In the late 1960s the number was much greater, and a great strength to those in service. My duty assignment in the Navy was as a junior officer on an aircraft carrier (USS Hornet, CVS-12), and we were attended by both a priest and a minister (and Jewish gatherings). Mass on Sundays and even daily in the ship’s library/chapel.
By the spring of 1969 our new skipper was Capt. Carl J. Seiberlich (d. 2006), a devout Catholic. During our Pacific recovery of the Apollo XI lunar astronauts (July 1969), he sent a rare commemorative envelope (designed and with a limited printing onboard) to Pope Paul VI to be included in the incomparable Vatican stamp collection…. A few months later and at taps under a starry night, over the intercom the Catholic Chaplain conferred the papal blessing on the entire crew:
“The Secretariat of State is graciously directed by the Holy Father to acknowledge receipt of the special philatelic envelope from the captain and crew of the USS Hornet…and in expressing His sincere appreciation of the loyal filial devotion which prompted this gesture, has the honor to convey, in pledge of abundant divine graces, the paternal Apostolic Benediction of His Holiness.”
Not a bad day, in a compact and special world. May the number of chaplains and other priests increase under the inspiration and leadership of Archbishop Broglio.
I know that military chaplains and their bishop have a difficult job.
We are seeing all kinds of new moral issues in the military these days. A few months ago, a female soldier was in the news for complaining about a man who identified as a woman in the women’s shower. She was told to deal with it. The military is now giving up to 20 days free administrative leave, and paying travel expenses, for any pregnant military woman who is serving in a state that forbids abortion to travel to a state that allows abortion. I read quite a few Catholic news sites and commentary sites. I have not seen anything from the military archdiocese on these and other “woke” type issues.
Senator Tuberville has been much more vocal on the military abortion issue than I have seen from any bishop. Why?
More vocal, perhaps or perhaps not. Try these:
https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2023/04/20/u-s-bishops-senate-vote-keeping-abortion-in-veteran-health-benefits-is-a-gross-failure/
https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2023/05/01/archbishop-of-military-services-condemns-new-rule-allowing-abortion-at-va-medical-centers/
https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2023/06/29/u-s-bishops-rebuke-group-of-catholic-democrats-vowing-to-support-abortion/
Mr. Beaulieu:
Thank you for the references. I always enjoy reading your comments on CWR.
The first two articles that you list contain my responses. I will stand by those.
I will point out that the bishops’ letter mentioned in the third article neither mentions that the 31 members of congress were all Catholics, or that they are all democrats. I would have thought that these were important facts.
The articles mention the bishop as being deeply saddened and having issued a scathing response. I suppose whether it was a scathing response is in the eye of the beholder. I don’t see being saddened as being an adequate response. How about outraged? But maybe that is just me.
As is so often the case the USCCB issues a document or a letter, and that is it. You and I may know about it because we read a lot of religious publications. But they never filter down to the parish level.
I have seen a number of statements by Senator Tuberville on the military abortion issue, and it has to be said that he has not only talked but also taken action.
We read: “As is so often the case the USCCB issues a document or a letter, and that is it. You and I may know about it because we read a lot of religious publications. But they never filter down to the parish level.”
Yes. I recall some years ago watching a televised portion of a USCCB annual meeting when a bishop in the back stood up and commented about yet another written tome on some subject or another, adopted a moment before by the bishops. He remarked that he would not embarrass his brother bishops by asking which of them had even read the document they had just endorsed.
A big difference between proclamation in person and later writings. Too bad for the living Church, Gutenberg’s invention. And, maybe when he was pope, Benedict once said that he thought it might be a good idea if Rome published absolutely nothing for an entire year.
Re: your last paragraph – Amen to that.
Will add that AMS is worthy of periodic contributions. Our service members deserve our support in spiritual matters so contributing to AMS should be a consideration of all Catholics.
275 priests for 1.8 million people?! That’s astounding. And I’m also astounded at how lackadaisical the AMS seems to be about recruiting. Here’s my story: I’m a priest interested in serving in the AMS. I emailed the main Vocations Office a few months ago. NO RESPONSE. Not even an acknowledgement of my email, although I was immediately put on the newsletter list (which sends me their woke trash). In an extraordinary coincidence I met the brother of one of the Auxiliary Bishops who out of the blue said I should join the AMS. I gave him my information and he said he’d pass it to that bishop. NO RESPONSE. After a few weeks I sent that bishop an email. NO RESPONSE. If you can believe it, I actually went to the head office of the AMS in Washington, DC to see if I could speak to a recruiter. Without an appointment, I was NOT ALLOWED inside the building. But since no one responds to my introductory email, how does one get an appointment? I left a hand-written note for the head of recruitment with my contact information on it. STILL NO RESPONSE. Then I found out that the AMS priest recruiter had an information table elsewhere in DC. I went there and finally was able to have a good chat with someone on the inside. Even though the recruiter made snide remarks about Trump, I expressed interest but then: NOTHING. No email of introduction, no “thanks for stopping by, here’s how we move forward,” nothing. You might be thinking, maybe I’m weird and they clearly don’t want me but actually, I think it’s the opposite. I’m not weird. I run triathlons. I’m male. In any case they don’t know anything about me yet so how could they disqualify me? They’ve never actually responded to a single piece of correspondence. ALL OF WHICH IS TO SAY – something seriously bad is going on in this place. THEY DON’T WANT VOCATIONS. I’m totally speculating here but my guess is that they are a bunch of liberals who think that if they force the situation to a crisis that they will have to ordain women. The laity ought to know that this is happening not just in AMS but in many dioceses who officially say they’re trying hard for vocations but in reality doing everything they can to discourage them (at least from men). Meanwhile, millions of dear Catholics are without priests. 275 for 1.8 million! That’s criminal. God have mercy on us all.
The problem with priests serving as military chaplains is that they are on the military payroll. This is as risky for the Church as allowing priests to serve as elected government politicians. In both cases taxpayer’s money is used to pay them salaries –which is too close to being a scandal.