Posted on 10/04/2013 3:05:02 PM PDT by sheikdetailfeather
In a stunning development, some military priests are facing arrest if they celebrate mass or practice their faith on military bases during the federal government shutdown.
“With the government shutdown, many [government service] and contract priests who minister to Catholics on military bases worldwide are not permitted to work – not even to volunteer,” wrote John Schlageter, the general counsel for the Archdiocese for the Military Services USA, in an op-ed this week. “During the shutdown, it is illegal for them to minister on base and they risk being arrested if they attempt to do so.”
According to its website, the Archdiocese for the Military Services “provides the Catholic Church’s full range of pastoral ministries and spiritual services to those in the United States Armed Forces.”
(Excerpt) Read more at dailycaller.com ...
*I pray they defy Obama.
Arresting them will look extremely bad for Obama. *
That would be SO cool!
It would remind people of the peaceful resistance of MLK in the 1960’s. I hope it would cause people to turn against the dark ways of our Communistic government and go back over on the side of freedom.
“I think it is time for some civil disobedience.”
Industrial strength!
Source: www.milarch.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 3, 2013*******Op-Ed*******
Shutdown Impacts Chapel Services
By John SchlageterIf the government shutdown continues through the weekend, there will be no Catholic priest to celebrate Mass this Sunday in the chapels at some U.S. military installations where non-active-duty priests serve as government contractors.
Military personnel enjoy, like all Americans, the First Amendment guarantee of the “Free Exercise” of their particular religious faith. But because military personnel are considered a “captive audience,” the laws of our country require the government to provide access to that faith. This is why we have a military chaplaincy. This all becomes very clear when one thinks of a military family stationed in Bahrain or Japan. They cannot walk down the street to the local synagogue, church, mosque, etc.
There is a chronic shortage of active duty Catholic chaplains. While roughly 25% of the military is Catholic, Catholic priests make up only about 8% of the chaplain corps. That means approximately 275,000 men and women in uniform, and their families, are served by only 234 active-duty priests. The temporary solution to this shortage is to provide GS and contract priests. These men are employed by the government to ensure that a priest is available when an active duty Catholic Chaplain is not present. With the government shutdown, many GS and contract priests who minister to Catholics on military bases worldwide are not permitted to work – not even to volunteer. During the shutdown, it is illegal for them to minister on base and they risk being arrested if they attempt to do so.
As an example, if a Catholic family has a Baptism scheduled this weekend at an Air Force base that is staffed by a GS or contract priest, unless they can locate a priest who is not a GS or contract priest, the Baptism is most likely cancelled. If you are a Catholic stationed in Japan or Korea and are served by a Contract or GS priest, unless you speak Korean or Japanese and can find a church nearby, then you have no choice but to go without Mass this weekend. Until the Federal Government resumes normal operations, or an exemption is granted to contract or GS priests, Catholic services are indefinitely suspended at many of those worldwide installations served by contract and GS priests.
At a time when the military is considering alternative sources of funding for sporting events at the service academies, no one seems to be looking for funding to ensure the Free Exercise rights of Catholics in uniform. Why not?
*John Schlageter is General Counsel for the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA.
He keeps proving he has not hit a new low even for him. There is no decency in the man. I do not doubt that he would have no limits on what he would do to any human being. He is a tyrannical thug and truly disgusting.
Let us not forget who sanctified this Blivet of ObamaCare upon the Nation .... Supreme Court Chief Justice John G Roberts who is the Worst Chief Justice since Taney ...
Worse than
Taney!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
*He keeps proving he has not hit a new low even for him. There is no decency in the man. I do not doubt that he would have no limits on what he would do to any human being. *
I’ve been waiting for him to kill a puppy on TV just to see if he could get away with it.
The next day he’d probably come on and deny that he did it, or possibly deny that he was doing it as he snuffed out its last breath.
Of course, he would say that it was a TEA Party member who killed the puppy, or George Bush, or the ghost of one of the Founding Fathers.
This is truly astounding to me even though I know he is evil. His mask is ripped off right now totally.
Obama is gonna wish he never started this fire.
People are getting pretty sick of his phony bullsh!t.
the end is near.....
Today is Islamic services in prisons and military bases. We’re the imans allowed to conduct services?
Seems to me this government shutdown is practice for martial law.
Have we ever had a mentally ill president before?
Here is what I know about services on military installations:
1. The basic function of the chaplaincy is to provide religious support for the entire military.
2. On any given installation, the commander is responsible for the religious program and that commander’s senior chaplain is responsible for conducting that program.
3. In the US military, there will never be enough chaplains of every denomination to cover all of the troops of every denomination. Therefore, on some installations, the staff chaplain/commander’s chaplain must arrange for other means of support.
4. In the past, that has included contract ministers/priests, and volunteer ministers/priests.
Given the ruling that volunteers are not permitted, that is a blatant violation of the commander’s responsibility to provide a religious program. There can be no requirement that a commander must provide a financial contract if financial resources are not available. Commanders are not permitted to deficit spend
That requirement to provide a religious program, though, is a matter of military regulation and the US Code.
My experience says that this is an unlawful directive by the president.
Astonishing. If you have some old friends still in, you might want to urge them to defy this order.
I've had extensive training in public speaking for no particular reason and to no one's benefit.
Nevertheless, as an experienced evaluator, I'll state that Obama is just about the worst public speaker, at a professional level, that I have heard in my entire life.
MY Catholic Priests will NEVER BOW to OBAMA.....I PRAY!!
Is this any different then him shutting down or Parks and Monuments? They are all taking away our rights in some form. Yes I know freedom of religion is between us and God, but We fought for God and Country. Who will be the first to die for the cause?( Not a challenge just a statement)
WOW! Thanks for your input. He never has minded breaking the law.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.