The military orders are not made up of consecrated religious. They were free to defend the Church. A modern example of a military order is the Knights of Columbus. It defends the Church not with weapons, but with apostolic action.
Secular orders are not the same as military orders, neither are oblates attached to a monastery or abbey. These men and women are bound by the rule written by the founder. Before I explain this, we must remember that not every priest is a consecrated religious. Most priests are secular Catholics. What I’m about to say about consecrated men and women does not apply to a priest who is not consecrated.
The vocation of a consecrated religious is to be a brother to all men. He stands in personal Christi; that is, in the person of Christ who is the first-born among many brothers. Whether he’s ordained or not is irrelevant. If he is a religious, he is a consecrated brother. The secular orders that form part of these religious families are bound by the same founder and the same ideals.
Each founder expresses it differently, but they all say the same thing. No religious may take up arms in defense of any country, nor may any member of a secular order attached to one of those orders.
Just before World War I, the Holy Father gave secular Franciscans, Dominicans, Carmelites and others permission to join the armed forces. However, the intent has always been that one joins the armed forces to protect the innocent by stopping the aggressor, not to protect the economic interests of any given party. The same applies to religious men and women who join the armed forces as chaplains. They are to serve both sides. They may not turn their back on the other, because he is the enemy. A brother (religious) is no one’s enemy and everyone’s brother.
This has always been a sore spot with many governments and their chaplains, including the Pentegon. The orders have always made it clear that their first obedience is to the Church, second to their founder, third to their brothers, and fourth to their commanding officer provided he is not in conflict with the other three. Right now there is an issue because the religious in the armed forces of many countries, including our own, will not perform same-sex weddings, challenge the military’s practice of passing out contraceptives to its men and women, and challenge abortions performed in military hospitals. They have been ordered to be quiet and they have disobeyed the orders by preaching against these things on Sundays.
The question arises, can the military dictate what a preacher may preach? Does a preacher have the right to preach against war, when that preacher wears a military uniform and is always an officer. Religious men and women in the armed forces enter as Lieutenants.
Are we pacifists? I wouldn’t use that term, because it’s politically heavy. Are we men of peace? Definitely. Do we see ourselves as brothers to all men, regardless of what side of a war they are on? Yes we do. This was very clear during WW II in Europe. Many religious in the armed forces and others not in the armed forces protected and hid Nazis and Allied soldiers from harm. They refused to send teenagers out to be killed. Remember, most of the soldiers on both sides were between 17 and 19 years old.
