Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio Issues Guidance to Catholic Military Chaplains on Same-Gender Relationships

[markomalley]

From the Archdiocese of the Military Services:

(snip)

No Catholic priest or deacon may be forced by any authority to witness or bless the union of couples of the same gender. No Catholic priest or deacon can be obliged to assist at a “Strong Bonds” or other “Marriage Retreat”, if that gathering is also open to couples of the same gender. A priest who is asked to counsel non-Catholic parties in a same-gendered relationship will direct them to a chaplain who is able to assist. Catholic parties will, of course, be encouraged by the priest to strive to live by the teaching of the Gospel.

Participation in retirements, changes of command, and promotion ceremonies is possible, as long as the priest is not required to acknowledge or approve of a “spouse” of the same gender.

While the tradition of the Catholic Church always tries to find reasons to bury the dead, a priest may not be placed in a situation where his assistance at a funeral for a Catholic would give the impression that the Church approves of same sex “marital” relationships (see CIC, c. 1184, §1,3º). In the case of doubt, the Archbishop for the Military Services, USA must be consulted (see CIC, c. 1184, §2).

(snip)

Read the rest of the statement. It covers actions by priests, lay ministers, participation, and guidance for Catholics in command positions.

While I wish he would have called on Catholics in command positions to a more courageous position (or would have endorsed it had those Catholics believed that they, personally, are called to bear witness to the truth with their careers), I think, overall, this is a very, very clear statement.

Bravo to Archbishop Broglio! :clapping::clapping:

 

[VeritasLuxMea]

What would a more courageous position look like?

If it’s anything like I’m imagining, I’d say it would be highly counterproductive.

 

[Starrsmother]

What would a more courageous position look like?

If it’s anything like I’m imagining, I’d say it would be highly counterproductive.

I agree with you. I stand by Catholic teaching on same sex “marriage” completely—but if the Catholic chaplains were to go much further, I suspect in this day and age we would wake up one day to discover that there would be no more Catholic chaplains allowed in the military. And, what a sad thing that would be—

 

[markomalley]

What would a more courageous position look like?

If it’s anything like I’m imagining, I’d say it would be highly counterproductive.

I agree with you. I stand by Catholic teaching on same sex “marriage” completely—but if the Catholic chaplains were to go much further, I suspect in this day and age we would wake up one day to discover that there would be no more Catholic chaplains allowed in the military. And, what a sad thing that would be—

I wasn’t talking about chaplains to take a more courageous position: in fact, he did call upon chaplains to take a quite courageous position already that goes counter to the current policy.

I was actually talking about the section pertaining to commanders (because of length of the extract that CAF allows us to post, I was unable to put that section in the post…you would have to go to the link to read it)

He was silent in regard to the support that Catholic lay people should give in regards to “same sex marriage.” For example,

• Should a Catholic who works in the personnel office acknowledge the validity of a marriage certificate given to a same sex couple…for the purpose of authorizing an ID card to be issued to the “dependent spouse”?
• Should a Catholic who is an installation commander make a speech lauding homosexual diversity and support for the current policies during the military’s annual “gay pride” dinner? (if you haven’t been in the military before, you should understand that the military has events like “black history month”, “asian/pacific islander heritage month”, “women’s history month”, and so on…each of those time spans has educational events to include a formal lunch / dinner where senior officials speak about the particular group)
• Should a Catholic who is a unit commander / unit senior enlisted adviser / psychologist / etc. be required to acknowledge the liceity of a “same sex family” relationship in counselling sessions?
• And so on.

In the civilian world, it’s a little bit easier. If you were to ask a CAF apologist whether or not, for example, whether you should issue a marriage license to a same sex couple, I would imagine the answer would be “no.” If you were to ask a CAF apologist whether or not you should accept a speaking invitation to a “gay pride dinner” and make positive comments about same sex "marriage’ during that dinner, the answer would, hopefully, be “absolutely not.” And so on. In the case of working in a county clerk’s office, you might need to find a different job, but that would be the worst possible impact.

However, in the military, people are in a different situation altogether. First, senior people (about whom these situations would occur) have already made a career commitment. Second, it’s not like a civil job: you can’t simply find a job with another military like you could find a job with a different company. Third, you are regulated a lot more. Take, for example, the case of SMSgt Phillip Monk, who was fired from his duty position and may face court martial because he refused to lend his personal support and endorsement for homosexual “marriage” to his lesbian commander.

My point is that it would have been helpful to provide lay Catholics (particularly commanders) some guidance on the subject. What the Church expects (since, as the military archbishop, he is the Ordinary for all military personnel, Abp. Broglio would be the ideal person to do so).

One other point: military policy and practice here essentially amounts to social engineering. By forcing people, in practice, to acknowledge the legitimacy of homosexual “marriage,” the military’s policy forces people to practically treat it as normal. That will affect their thinking over a period of years.

 

[Starrsmother]

I wasn’t talking about chaplains to take a more courageous position: in fact, he did call upon chaplains to take a quite courageous position already that goes counter to the current policy.

I was actually talking about the section pertaining to commanders (because of length of the extract that CAF allows us to post, I was unable to put that section in the post…you would have to go to the link to read it)

He was silent in regard to the support that Catholic lay people should give in regards to “same sex marriage.” For example,

• Should a Catholic who works in the personnel office acknowledge the validity of a marriage certificate given to a same sex couple…for the purpose of authorizing an ID card to be issued to the “dependent spouse”?
• Should a Catholic who is an installation commander make a speech lauding homosexual diversity and support for the current policies during the military’s annual “gay pride” dinner? (if you haven’t been in the military before, you should understand that the military has events like “black history month”, “asian/pacific islander heritage month”, “women’s history month”, and so on…each of those time spans has educational events to include a formal lunch / dinner where senior officials speak about the particular group)
• Should a Catholic who is a unit commander / unit senior enlisted adviser / psychologist / etc. be required to acknowledge the liceity of a “same sex family” relationship in counselling sessions?
• And so on.

In the civilian world, it’s a little bit easier. If you were to ask a CAF apologist whether or not, for example, whether you should issue a marriage license to a same sex couple, I would imagine the answer would be “no.” If you were to ask a CAF apologist whether or not you should accept a speaking invitation to a “gay pride dinner” and make positive comments about same sex "marriage’ during that dinner, the answer would, hopefully, be “absolutely not.” And so on. In the case of working in a county clerk’s office, you might need to find a different job, but that would be the worst possible impact.

However, in the military, people are in a different situation altogether. First, senior people (about whom these situations would occur) have already made a career commitment. Second, it’s not like a civil job: you can’t simply find a job with another military like you could find a job with a different company. Third, you are regulated a lot more. Take, for example, the case of SMSgt Phillip Monk, who was fired from his duty position and may face court martial because he refused to lend his personal support and endorsement for homosexual “marriage” to his lesbian commander.

My point is that it would have been helpful to provide lay Catholics (particularly commanders) some guidance on the subject. What the Church expects (since, as the military archbishop, he is the Ordinary for all military personnel, Abp. Broglio would be the ideal person to do so).

One other point: military policy and practice here essentially amounts to social engineering. By forcing people, in practice, to acknowledge the legitimacy of homosexual “marriage,” the military’s policy forces people to practically treat it as normal. That will affect their thinking over a period of years.

I see your point. I think it would be a very difficult scenario to be a Catholic and have to deal with some of the situations you describe. Out of curiosity, what do you think the ultimate outcome will be? As a Catholic, I don’t think I could show any support in any way for a same sex “marriage” infact I know I couldn’t. My youngest daughter is a lesbian (my grief over this is overwhlming) but if I can tell her, as I did, that I won’t have any part in her so-called marriage, I know I’d do the same if it were my boss (commander). So having said that, I guess I’d be kicked out of the service, right?

 

[markomalley]

I see your point. I think it would be a very difficult scenario to be a Catholic and have to deal with some of the situations you describe. Out of curiosity, what do you think the ultimate outcome will be? As a Catholic, I don’t think I could show any support in any way for a same sex “marriage” infact I know I couldn’t. My youngest daughter is a lesbian (my grief over this is overwhlming) but if I can tell her, as I did, that I won’t have any part in her so-called marriage, I know I’d do the same if it were my boss (commander). So having said that, I guess I’d be kicked out of the service, right?

I retired from the Air Force after 21 years. I honestly don’t know what I would do if I was in the circumstance. That’s why I would have loved to have seen some good guidance.

 

[livingwordunity]

My family and I met Archbishop Broglio briefly a couple of times when he came to visit the military chapel we used to attend. We like him.