My Aunt had a chapel in her house—formerly a bedroom. A couple of priests were permitted to say an occasional Mass there, although I believe they needed the Bishop’s permission.
Perhaps he could get his Bishop’s permission to say Mass in the parking lot or elsewhere. But on that particular day he presumably had none of the equipment needed to do so, since he didn’t expect to find the chapel locked, and everything he needed was inside.
In any case, I would consider Mass attendance to be a NECESSITY to Catholics in our armed forces, and this is clearly a violation of their rights. This should be just about the LAST expense to be cut, and certainly it was evil to lock the chapel if the Priest was willing to do his job without pay.
Exactly. When they get special permission and all the equipment necessary to have three Sunday Masses off base somewhere, then, we could give them some attention, since the military actually works to ensure, among other unalienable rights, our ability to freely associate to practice our religion.