Navy ends Catholic Masses at bases

The Deacon's Bench ^ | September 6, 2020 | Deacon Greg Kandra

[ebb tide]

Navy ends Catholic Masses at bases

We all know there’s a shortage of priestly vocations — but some places are feeling the effects more dramatically than others.

From The San Diego Tribune: 

Catholic Masses at San Diego-area Navy bases have ended because the Navy, in what it says is a cost-cutting move, has declined to renew its contracts with Catholic priests, and there are not enough Catholic chaplains on active duty to fill the void.

Protestant services on bases, which are led by active duty chaplains, will continue, said Brian O’Rourke, a Navy Region Southwest spokesman.

The changes to the Navy’s religious ministries are part of a national realignment announced on Aug. 20. It is unclear how many priests this will affect.

“The Navy’s religious ministries priority is reaching and ministering to our largest demographic — active duty Sailors and Marines in the 18-25 year-old range,” O’Rourke wrote in an email. “To meet that mission, the Navy has had to make the difficult decision to discontinue most contracted ministry services.”

In the Navy message announcing the change, Vice Adm. Yancey Lindsey, the commander of Naval Installations Command, said it differently.

“We have a responsibility to use our limited resources wisely in meeting the needs of our personnel,” wrote Lindsey. “Therefore, we will reduce redundancies and capture efficiencies by realigning resources,” noting that religious services will be cut at bases where those services are readily available in the surrounding community outside the base.

To Rev. Jose Pimentel, a priest who has led services at Naval Base Coronado and Naval Air Station North Island for eight years, the loss of his parish isn’t just a personal loss — it’s a loss of the 1st Amendment rights of service members on bases.

“One issue is discrimination (and) another is the violation of your right to practice your religion,” he said when reached by phone Friday.

…While the Navy has an active duty component of clergy — the Chaplain Corps — the number of Catholic priests among them is small, reflecting a worldwide shortage of Catholic priests. To make up for that shortage, the service contracted with priests to lead Catholic services on U.S. bases.

Those contracts are the ones being canceled.

Read more. 

[fortes fortuna juvat]

I do not understand why a Priest cannot.
.......................................
It is a sad and shameful dereliction of the pastoral duty of the Church and its bishops and priests.

[fortes fortuna juvat]

What’s wrong with the Church?
.........................
It was destroyed by the Satan Council (1962-1965}. The Church you’re referring to no longer exists. It was transformed into just another Protestant sect 55 years ago!

[Midwesterner53]

Way off the rails. Our military has no moral compass any longer. (Retired Army Officer)

[MurphsLaw]

It was transformed into just another Protestant sect 55 years ago!

Well......we Mass attending Catholics who don’t live near a TLM Mass will just have to deal with the fact that God will love us less - much less than the Sed’s and the PXers out there.

Dang it....

[Campion]

No, they weren’t saying Mass. If they were, it was just a man saying words over bread. It’s technically called “simulating a sacrament” and it’s gravely sinful for a Catholic to participate in it.

[ebb tide]

Well......we Mass attending Catholics who don’t live near a TLM Mass will just have to deal with the fact that God will love us less - much less than the Sed’s and the PXers out there.

Still bearing false witness, I see. So you weren't telling the truth when you claimed you were attending a diocesan TLM.

I'll pull up your post if you'd like.

[joma89]

I suspect you are correct that this is what the poster meant but what was written was ‘Volunteer for free’. Words mean stuff. In the case of a priest volunteering ‘for free’ to serve the Navy, there is no in-kind payment and thus the analogy to a nun teaching at a school is completely wrong.

JoMa

[snoringbear]

You weren’t there. Stick it bub.

[reg45]

If it’s a Protestant service, then it could be performed by a Protestant chaplain. Problem solved!

[Svartalfiar]

Priests aren’t happy with room and board and the giving of themselves to our troops? What’s wrong with the Church?

Actually, the Navy isn't happy paying the Church to bring priests onto base to provide extra services. None of those affected are chaplains - it's all contracted non-military personnel.

One of the bigwigs claims it's only happening in places with nearby Catholic services in the surrounding community, but sounds to me like they're canceling ALL contracts, not just the ones with alternatives available.

[Vermont Lt]

I worked at a hospital. My crew was responsible for calling in Priests to perform last rites.

If you’ve never worked with contract priests, they are the biggest pains in the ass. And ask them to do something like be there for a family that just lost a child...they would tell you the family should call their own priest. And heaven help you if the patient dies on the way to the hospital and they pitch a fit.

Never had that issue with Chaplins.

[Svartalfiar]

Way back in the day when I worked for the Big Green Machine (1965 - 1968) Protestant ministers could give communion, do mass and vise versa for Catholic priests.

Um, as a Catholic you can physically attend a Protestant service, but I don't think the Church has ever approved Protestants pretending to be priests, outside of emergency last rites. Maybe.

To my knowledge most Protestants still do communion, but they don't believe in the Presence, to them it's just a quick Sunday morning snack. (Side note, do Baptists do the communion wine, or it that too much alcohol in public for them?)

[Svartalfiar]

“Fine. But as the article says there are no Catholic priests to administer mass on base”

It says no such thing. Did you even read it?

Actually, that's basically what it says. You don;t even need to click the article, the excerpt has the info.

has declined to renew its contracts with Catholic priests, and there are not enough Catholic chaplains on active duty to fill the void.
...
noting that religious services will be cut at bases where those services are readily available in the surrounding community outside the base.
...
…While the Navy has an active duty component of clergy — the Chaplain Corps — the number of Catholic priests among them is small, reflecting a worldwide shortage of Catholic priests. To make up for that shortage, the service contracted with priests to lead Catholic services on U.S. bases.

Those contracts are the ones being canceled.

The only reason the Navy has contracted priests to provide Mass is because that particular base didn't have a Catholic chaplain. Supposedly they are only cutting the contracts IF there's an off-base Catholic option in the surrounding community, but my guess is that's gonna turn into canceling all outside priests, including ones offering Mass in bases that have no other options. I would hazard a guess that the priests can, if they so wish, continue to provide the services, but it will be fully at their own expense.

[fortes fortuna juvat]

Well......we Mass attending Catholics who don’t live near a TLM Mass will just have to deal with the fact that God will love us less - much less than the Sed’s and the PXers out there.

Dang it....
.................................................
Oh I doubt He’ll love you less. He’ll probably love you more and consider it unnecessary for any of you to spend time in Purgatory. Attendance at the Novus Ordo will have been quite enough punishment for all unrepented venial sins!

[snoringbear]

“ To my knowledge ~~” *********** Um, we’re you in the army? More specifically in Vietnam, even more specifically in combat? If you weren’t there then you don’t know. So, go fu€k yourself 😊..

[Svartalfiar]

In the Army (19D/35F), yes, but Vietnam was before my time.

But that’s irrelevant, it’s the Church side that matters - just because a Protestant claims he can serve Catholics (and yes, our chaplain isn’t Catholic), doesn’t mean he can consecrate the Host and actually perform a Catholic Mass. He can lead a generic prayer service, but anything more than that isn’t Catholic, no matter what he told you.

[Svartalfiar]

If you’ve never worked with contract priests, they are the biggest pains in the ass. And ask them to do something like be there for a family that just lost a child...they would tell you the family should call their own priest. And heaven help you if the patient dies on the way to the hospital and they pitch a fit.

Never had that issue with Chaplins.

Yea, the older/more orthodox priests tend to be much more friendly and have a better understanding/belief in the priestly duties. When me/my siblings were baptized, we just had some basic stuff and the priest did it in between Masses. When our kid did it, there was a class we/godparents had to take (a couple short videos we coulda just watched online at home...), a bunch of paperwork, time restrictions (both Churches near us only do it on certain Saturdays of the month), one Church has the deacon do all the baptisms (although the priest normally does the Spanish ones, dafuq). Basically, it really felt like the Church was doing their best to have us NOT baptize our kid.

Woulda done it at the real Church, but Mater Dei is a good hour-ish from us. Talked to my Uncle (high-up in FSSP), and he said they don't usually require that much crap for a baptism. Next kid will definitely be there.

[snoringbear]

You’re full of $hit. Stupid actually.

[Svartalfiar]

You’re full of $hit. Stupid actually.

I refute that. I dropped a big one this morning, so I can say with decent certainty that I am actually mostly empty of shit. But, way to further the discussion. It's certainly a difficult argument to make, and very risky considering you don't know my eating schedule, portion sizes, metabolic rate, or how often/when poopin' time is.

Of course, it is completely unrelated to the conversation, so did you forget the rest of your comment or was that it?

[snoringbear]

You forgot to empty your head - shit for brains.

https://canonlawmadeeasy.com/2016/01/07/can-catholic-soldiers-receive-sacraments-non-catholic-chaplains/