CV NEWS FEED // Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services USA recently hosted a four-day discernment retreat for 27 seminarians also considering a life as a military chaplain.
According to an archdiocesan news release, the retreat was directed by the archdiocese’s vocations director, Fr. Aidan Logan, and Fr. Marcel Taillon, who will take over Fr. Logan’s position in mid-April.
The retreat included Mass celebrated by Archbishop Broglio, as well as several talks and opportunities for prayer, reflection, and discussion. Chaplain recruiters from the Department of Defense were also available to talk with the seminarians and help them discern both priesthood and the life of a military chaplain.
According to the news release, the archdiocese is struggling to attract new recruits as the current number of military chaplains continues to dwindle.
“The shortage results from attrition: aging chaplains are retiring faster than they can be replaced,” the news release stated. “The decline has persisted for decades—over the past 25 years alone, the active-duty roster has shrunk from more than 400 to fewer than 200.”
It continued:
Currently, 25% of the Military is Catholic, but Catholic priests make up only about seven percent of the chaplain corps, leaving them stretched thin over a globally dispersed faith community on a scale of one priest per 1,750 service members, not counting their families.
The archdiocese has continued to offer a military chaplain discernment retreat for seminarians twice a year for the past few years, which has begun “to yield a bountiful harvest.”
According to the news release, seminarians in preparation for military chaplaincy enroll in the Co-Sponsored Seminarian Program (CSP), which had only seven seminarians in 2008. Since then, it has grown significantly, with a high of 47 men enrolled just before the pandemic, and a total of 34 men currently enrolled in the program.
However, the news release called the increase in seminarians enrolled in the program “a mixed blessing.”
While more prospective Catholic U.S. Military chaplains are in the pipeline now, the costs for their formation have soared exponentially,” the news release stated.” The [archdiocese’s] share is projected at more than $4.5 million just over the next five years.”
The archdiocese does not receive funding from the military or government, and therefore is always grateful for donations to assist with providing chaplains for military Catholics.
