AF looks to foreigners to end priest shortage

[SlightlyCatholic]

By Sam LaGrone - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Sep 24, 2008 12:18:05 EDT

To combat a record low number of Roman Catholic chaplains, the Air Force chaplain’s office is pitching a plan to turn foreign-born priests into naturalized blue-suited clergy.

“We’re working on getting non-native Americans to come into the Reserve and then we would fast track them to American citizenship,” said Air Force Chief of Chaplains Maj. Gen. Cecil Richardson.

“Once they became citizens, we will bring them into the [active] military as priests.”

Currently, there are 79 chaplain priests in the Air Force. Of those, 17 have medical problems that prevent them from deploying, and at least nine plan to retire by the end of the year. In short, priests for the Air Force are “a critical need” for the 25 percent of all airmen who are Roman Catholic, said Lt. Col. Gary Linsky, a Catholic chaplain in the plans and programs division of the Air Force Chaplain Service.

To blunt the blow, the Air Force will follow a trend in civilian parishes that have relied on foreign-born priests for years. But recruiting foreign priests into the active U.S. military presents more hoops than just getting an out-of-town padre a green card.

It’s like an SAT question: If all active-duty U.S. chaplains are officers, and all active-duty officers are U.S. citizens, are all active-duty chaplains U.S. citizens?

Yes, by law.

So the Air Force Reserve and the Chaplain Service want to use a provision in Title X of federal law that allows foreign legal residents to take reserve commissions. Once in, priests would undergo an accelerated naturalization process, based on President Bush’s 2002 executive order, in order get an active commission.

“What we’ve heard is three to six months, but we have yet to prove that,” Air Force Reserve Col. Anne Hamilton said. The Chaplain Service proposal comes in addition to other Air Force efforts that let priests take commissions when they are older, stay in longer or get waivers for problems that would get other candidates laughed out of the recruiting station, Richardson said.

The need for the clergy in the military is crucial since only ordained priests can administer Catholic sacraments such as Holy Communion, confession and last rites.

In forward operating areas, Air Force priests are in as much demand as special operators. Come January, Catholic chaplains will be required to deploy for six months at a time, at a dwell rate of 1-to-1 — six months in theater, then six months at home. Chaplians of other denominations deploy far less.

The clergy shortage is not unique to the Air Force. In the past 20 years, the Archdiocese for the Military Services has seen the number of priests drop from 1,500 across all services to about 290 active-duty chaplains and 250 in the reserves and the National Guard, said Monsignor Ronald A. Newland, the archdiocese’s chancellor. Catholic chaplains are responsible for nearly 1.5 million troops and family members worldwide covered by the military diocese.

The priest shortage in the military reflects a larger trend in the Roman Catholic Church.

“I can recruit a priest into the military, but I can’t recruit a young man into the priesthood,” Richardson said. “It’s a Catholic Church problem.”

On average, each year only brings 450 to 500 new priests to the entire church, said Mary Gautier, senior research associate at the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University, a group that researches demographics in the Roman Catholic Church. That rate will only make up a third of what the worldwide church loses each year to priests’ deaths and retirements, Gautier said.

And most new priests are not American. The countries that are seeing the most new priests are, in order, Mexico, Vietnam, Poland, the Philippines and Columbia, according to Gautier’s data. For Chief of Chaplains Richardson, the program awaiting Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz’s approval is imperative to the welfare of Catholic airmen.

“We need to meet the needs of the men and women who’ve pledged to support and defend the Constitution and say, ‘By the way, I’m Roman Catholic,‘” he said.

Link at: http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/20...riests_092308/

Even if you're not Catholic, please pray that all people can receive sufficient religious ministry and spiritual counseling through more chaplains coming into the military. Religious freedom is important to all denominations and that can't happen unless religious leaders choose to serve God and country.

[pingjocky]

We’re working on getting non-native Americans to come into the Reserve and then we would fast track them to American citizenship

Yeah, the French did that (are still doing that?). It's called the French Foreign Legion. Are we no better than the frogs now? (No offense to any Naval Special Warfare Operators lurking the boards!) How can these non-natives be vetted as to their allegiences? Heck, we've already had sabotage down at GITMO by a non-native chaplain. Can't Americans ever learn a lesson...and then remember it.

R/
pingjocky

[SlightlyCatholic]

Originally Posted by pingjocky

Yeah, the French did that (are still doing that?). It's called the French Foreign Legion. Are we no better than the frogs now? (No offense to any Naval Special Warfare Operators lurking the boards!) How can these non-natives be vetted as to their allegiences? Heck, we've already had sabotage down at GITMO by a non-native chaplain. Can't Americans ever learn a lesson...and then remember it.

R/
pingjocky

Unfortunately, we're getting desperate and this is a case of desperation due to a sheer lack of numbers. You hope to get quality along with quantity, but the primary concern here is quantity. They just need more chaplains, and they're widening the nets to catch more fish.

[pingjocky]

they're widening the nets to catch more fish

And are bound to catch a few sharks with the fish. If I was a "non-native" bad guy who wanted to do some damage to the unwashed infidels, I'd sure look at this as an invitation...."Come F--k us up, we're opening our arms to you!!" Once again, we have trouble remembering lessons we already learned with blood.

R/
Pingjocky

[SlightlyCatholic]

Originally Posted by pingjocky

And are bound to catch a few sharks with the fish. If I was a "non-native" bad guy who wanted to do some damage to the unwashed infidels, I'd sure look at this as an invitation...."Come F--k us up, we're opening our arms to you!!" Once again, we have trouble remembering lessons we already learned with blood.

R/
Pingjocky

You have a point. However, I would hope that the priests coming over would be good enough to realize that they're in a sacred position and should conduct themselves as such. The Church is usually pretty good about taking a fine tooth comb to applicants before they even get into the seminary. My own process felt more like a CIA orientation than a seminary application, but that's a good thing. Every once in a while a few wolves dress up in sheep's clothing and have some fun, and I hope for a lot of people's sake that this won't end up biting anyone in the rear in this particular case.

Ping, out of curiosity, have you ever seen a Navy Chaplain on a Submarine?

[pingjocky]

We took one for a ride once. We were going out for an 8 hour cruise, just to the dive point and back. Wound up getting mission orders, and Chaps was with us for about two weeks. Came back with a SSBN Deterrent Patrol Pin! As far as I know, he was the only one in the Chaplain Corps that was authorized to wear one. No, we don't have chaplains permanently assigned to us. Heck, we don't even have a Doctor...an IDC (Independent Duty Corpsman) is our Doc.

R/
Pingjocky

[FeelinFroggy]

By the looks of this post, I suppose it's a good thing you are considering joining the Air Force, Tim.

Originally Posted by pingjocky

Are we no better than the frogs now? (No offense to any Naval Special Warfare Operators lurking the boards!)

R/
pingjocky

None taken.

[SlightlyCatholic]

By the looks of this post, I suppose it's a good thing you are considering joining the Air Force, Tim.

They actually have a hard time getting Chaplains because the story most people get is that the "real" war is being fought by the Marines and Soldiers on the ground. Consequently, Chaplains look at the Army and Navy to minister where the troops need it the most. That's excellent, but they forget about the forward air bases and sheer number of troops overseas that are Air Force Personnel. All that rolled together caused the shortage in chaplains, especially Catholic priests. The article also talks about priest numbers in the "civilian" world going down, which is a problem in the Church. Where ten years ago it was common for parishes to be run by two or three priests, the trend now is to have one priest ministering to one or two parishes. It's just gotten harder all around.

[CAPSmith]

If it is any consolation, the AF has been using CAP Chaplains for a number of years now for augmentation. The CAP Chaplains have been working with soldiers who are going to deploy or have returned.

In cases where the base Chaplain is deployed there have been occassions where a CAP Chaplain has filled in. I even know of several CAP Chaplains who are Roman Catholic Priests.

They don't get paid, they don't deploy. They are volunteers doing good, needed work.

Perhaps utilizing this program a bit more might alleviate their need to "bend the rules."

[SlightlyCatholic]

Originally Posted by CAPSmith

If it is any consolation, the AF has been using CAP Chaplains for a number of years now for augmentation. The CAP Chaplains have been working with soldiers who are going to deploy or have returned.

In cases where the base Chaplain is deployed there have been occassions where a CAP Chaplain has filled in. I even know of several CAP Chaplains who are Roman Catholic Priests.

They don't get paid, they don't deploy. They are volunteers doing good, needed work.

Perhaps utilizing this program a bit more might alleviate their need to "bend the rules."

I wasn't aware the Air Force Auxilliary could fill in the for the Air Force. I'm glad to hear that they're being utilized, and I'm sure it's definately helping.