Fr. Mulcahy and Real Millitary Chaplains

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SanRafael1102

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So, one of my favorite television programs (there are few that I can stomach these days) has to be reruns of the classic M* A* S* H. One member of the regular cast is Fr. John Francis Patrick Mulcahy, a Roman Catholic priest who serves as the 4077th’s military chaplain. I think that the character is very well written, but from time to time, I find myself questioning some of his behaviors.

Some that have come to mind lately are:
  1. Fr. Mulcahy is a Catholic Priest who presides over multiple denominational services. He naturally provides the Catholic liturgy and sacraments, but also is well versed in Protestant services and even the occasion non-Christian faculties. In real life, are Catholic priests (military or otherwise) able to perform non-Catholic or even non-Christian services? Could a Catholic priest in such a capacity officiate a Buddhist wedding for instance?
  2. Fr. Mulcahy offers confession to non-Catholic patients. In one particular episode, a G.I. is hiding his true identity from the doctors. He’s absconded with his dead buddy’s dog tags, and release papers. While in post-op, Fr. Mulcahy states that the G.I.'s assumed identity is Jewish, stating that he’s familiar with Jewish “procedure.” The G.I. (who in reality is a Catholic) asks if Fr. Mulcahy will hear his confession. Without being any the wiser, Fr. Mulcahy happily agrees to do so. So, is it permissible for Catholic priests (in military roles) to offer the Sacraments to non-Catholic service members when imminent death is not a factor?
Those are the two that come to mind right away. If I think of any others, I may add them to the thread later on. Like I said, I know that this is a fictional character, but I figure that some research would have been done beforehand. I’m just curious if any of you are privy to such insight.

Thoughts?

Pax
 
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When I was in the military, I was taught that while each chaplain has his own religion, they are trained to give appropriate counseling in a variety of religions. Each battalion had only one chaplain, and some battalions at my command even shared a chaplain at times. In my time, I saw Catholic, Baptist, and rabbis serving as chaplains. I think services are provided by a chaplain of that faith, but in a situation such as a chaplain paying a visit to troops at tiny combat outpost, not every person will have a chaplain of their own religion.
 
  1. I have heard that a Catholic military chaplain may have permission to perform non-Catholic services and weddings. This is simply part of the job of a military chaplain and does not imply the Church’s endorsement.
  2. No, a Catholic priest would not offer Catholic sacraments to a Jewish service member. In this episode, the soldier identified himself to the priest as a Catholic.
 
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MASH was a TV series meant to be entertainment, not to be an accurate depiction of anything that they were portraying. It is my understanding that the production of a 26-episode-per-year TV series is pretty much a madhouse. They don’t have time to make sure that they get every detail right, and consequently there was a lot that they got wrong, starting with their portrayal of a Catholic chaplain.

D
 
I would love to watch this- do you know if it’s available for streaming online somewhere?
 
No.

Each Chaplain is there to provide only the religious services of his own faith.

This is not a matter of opinion. It’s clearly stated in AR 165-1 which governs chaplain activities. (AR=Army Regulation)

The key phrase is “perform or provide” ministry. If a chaplain can perform a certain ministry, according to his own faith, then he does so–provided that the faith of the soldier reciprocates. For example, a Catholic priest can only officiate at a marriage of 2 Catholics or at least 1 Catholic (by canon law). No Catholic priest can officiate at a marriage of 2 non-Catholics. A Catholic priest can only provide Catholic Mass. He cannot do any Protestant services, so he can never substitute for a Lutheran or Episcopalian or Baptist.

This depends on the rules of the religions involved. If a Baptist minister is able to perform a wedding for any couple that requests one (say a Lutheran to a Pentecostal), then he can do the same in a military setting. So a Catholic priest cannot, while a Baptist minister can.

Again, the key is “perform or provide.” If a chaplain is of the same religion as the soldier (or if the rules of both religions allow it) then he will perform the ministry. If not, he provides the ministry by putting the soldier in contact with the appropriate chaplain (which one travels will depend on circumstances) or other qualified religious leader.

If a ministry is not religion-specific then a Chaplain is expected to perform that ministry to the soldiers within his assigned unit (so a battalion chaplain is responsible for all soldiers in that battalion).

No Catholic priest, military or civilian, can perform a Buddhist wedding. If two Buddhists approach him, he provides the services of a qualified Buddhist, even if that might mean contacting a non-military Buddhist priest (or whatever Buddhist office can perform a wedding).

Nothing changes when a Catholic priest becomes a military Chaplain. He is still a priest and he is still bound by the exact same canon law that applies to civilians. Yes, certain circumstances change (no doubt there), but nothing about what a priest can or cannot do changes with regard to sacraments.

And by the way, I am a graduate of the US Army Chaplain School. I do KNOW what I’m writing about.
 
PaulfromIowa said:
  1. Yes, a Catholic military chaplain will have permission to perform non-Catholic services and weddings. This is simply part of the job of a military chaplain and does not imply the Church’s endorsement.
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No.

A Catholic military chaplain is bound by the same rules as a civilian priest. He cannot provide non-Catholic services. He cannot do any Protestant or other non-Catholic religious services. He cannot officiate at any weddings unless he follows the same rules articulated in Canon Law that apply to any civilian priest.

A civilian Catholic priest cannot officiate at a wedding of 2 Baptists. Neither can a military chaplain.
 
Thank you for the correction, Father. I take it for granted that your knowledge is much greater than mine. You say that a Catholic chaplain cannot provide non-Catholic religious services. Is this true even in cases where the Catholic chaplain is the only chaplain available? What does he tell the non-Catholics in his unit? “Sorry, men.”?
 
He either performs or provides.

If he cannot perform, he provides. That means he either sends the soldier(s) to the appropriate chaplain or arranges to bring a chaplain to the soldiers (or last case, brings in a civilian clergy).

Think of it this way: if we have a group of Catholic soldiers in a combat environment (which does not necessarily mean “bullets flying”) and they need Sunday Mass, we would never want the military to say “there’s no Catholic priest available, but we’re sending this Protestant minister who’s borrowed everything he needs from a Catholic priest and he’s going to be saying Mass for you.” As Catholics, we would never tolerate that. Instead, the solution is to find a Catholic priest and bring him to that unit.

Here’s a typical example. Chaplains generally start on the battalion level. One chaplain per battalion. A brigade will have (let’s just say) 5 battalions. One of those will get a Catholic priest. One gets a Lutheran, one gets a Baptist, etc. On Sundays, each one has his own religious services and the soldiers from throughout the brigade go to whatever battalion chapel has the respective chaplain. If a Baptist chaplain gets a request from a soldier to see a Catholic priest, the chaplain will say to the soldier “go over to that other battalion and see the Chaplain there” and vice versa. That’s just a simplified example to show how it works.

If a Catholic soldier needs to go to Confession, we would never even consider the possibility that he should go to the Rabbi with a copy of the “Rite of Confession” book and have the Rabbi perform the role of a priest. Neither would a Catholic priest perform any Rabbinic roles.

For some non-Catholic Christians, the exact denomination doesn’t matter much. A “Southern” Baptist might be perfectly content to visit a chaplain of the “American” Baptist Convention. That’s fine, so long as both the chaplain and the soldier consider that an acceptable arrangement. Still, the Chaplain is classified as “American Baptist” and his services are announced as such. There’s no such thing as “general Protestant” chaplains anymore (that was the practice until the 1970s, when the Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional).

Each chaplain must (yes, must) announce his religious services as being those of his specific religion/denomination. Soldiers can be welcome to attend if they freely choose. If it satisfies their spiritual needs to attend a service conducted by a minister of a different denomination, that’s perfectly fine. But that decision must be made by the soldier and not made by the command. So no captain can tell a soldier “you’re Lutheran and I say that Presbyterian is close enough.” But if the soldier himself makes that decision (and the chaplain welcomes him) that’s acceptable.
 
The Army (not sure about Navy or Air Force) tries to have at least one Catholic chaplain per brigade, so if the brigade-level chaplain is Catholic, there might not be any battalion Catholic chaplains. The brigade chaplain then handles all the Catholic.

Geography doesn’t always match-up with unit organization, but you get the idea. There might be an area of a large installation that has 6 or 7 battalions all from different brigades living near each other. One battalion gets a Catholic priest.
 
Seems often love is overlooked for questionable theology. There is only one theology; that of love. Put the rule book down, for the sake of being servants to our fellow man, which makes us servants of God.
 
Hereiam said:
Except my post was not specifically addressing his post.
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I apologize, I just finished reading Fr. David’s theological posts followed by your post stating questionable theology and made an assumption.

I will remove it.

God Bless
 
As an individual who grew up “under the flag,” what was generally offered on the military posts where I lived were Catholic services and Protestant services, with out respect to any specific denomination. When my father was stationed at Ft. Dix, there were also Rabbis serving as chaplains.
As a Reservist on Active Duty for Support, I was assigned to Headquarters as was a Baptist chaplain. I attended daily Mass at noon. Sunday Mass preceded the Protestant services, again the denomination was not specified.
Yes, I did receive my Confirmation while living on a military post in Japan. I received all necessary Faith Formation through grade eight after First Communion.
 
I don’t know the rules, but I will just say that I had some great Catholic chaplains when I was in the Navy, really amazing.

One who was really influential to me was a Jesuit. Even though he was an American, he had gone through the seminary in Austria. Before he was a chaplain, the Church sent him on an extended ecumenical outreach to a Buddhist monastery in Asia. Later, he worked for the Vatican as an investigator of claims of miracles regarding persons who were being considered for sainthood. He was a great counselor, very down to Earth, giving really clear explanations for matters of faith. It was always amazing to me that someone of that stature decided to become a chaplain, but I’m glad he did.
 
DebCWil said:
As an individual who grew up “under the flag,” what was generally offered on the military posts where I lived were Catholic services and Protestant services, with out respect to any specific denomination. When my father was stationed at Ft. Dix, there were also Rabbis serving as chaplains.
As a Reservist on Active Duty for Support, I was assigned to Headquarters as was a Baptist chaplain. I attended daily Mass at noon. Sunday Mass preceded the Protestant services, again the denomination was not specified.
Yes, I did receive my Confirmation while living on a military post in Japan. I received all necessary Faith Formation through grade eight after First Communion.
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Military regulation does not allow for generic “Protestant” services. Every service must be labeled as belonging to a specific religion/denomination–that is, whatever religious body endorsed that particular Chaplain.

This is due to a 1970s Supreme Court decision declaring the military use of the term “general Protestant” unconstitutional because outside of a military context, there is no such religion of “general Protestant.” The argument went that if it didn’t exist in the civilian world, then the military founded a new religion.

The services must be identified according to the chaplain conducting them. They can post general schedules such as “every Sunday at 9 AM Protestant services” or to say that “the West-side Chapel is typically used for Protestant services”, but the individual services must be identified; eg Sunday, Dec. 24, 2017 CH Smith Lutheran ELCA.
 
I have only seen “Protestant” service times stated after or between Catholic Mass times for Sundays on the Posts where I have been.
My father did retire from the Army in the 1960’s and the five months I spent on Active Duty was in 1982. The military chaplain that I worked with was Baptist. It was a small post. That doesn’t mean that chaplains other denominations were not represented.
Although I was only activated for a short period I became friends with the Catholic chaplain because I took over lifeguard duties during the parish picnic.
I learned much from activities on and off post.

Living in Japan, I joined my mother in her trips with the Catholic women’s club.
One of those trips was to a newly built Buddhist temple, and boys’ school.

During my Active Duty time, I was able to attend a Jesus Day Conference in Chicago.
 
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