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Air Force chaplains gather to discuss shortage of Catholic priests

  • Published
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. --  Air Force chaplains gathered here last week for the Chief of Chaplains Catholic Chaplain Utilization Conference. During the conference, chaplains discussed possible solutions to the continually decreasing number of active duty Catholic chaplains in the Air Force.

Currently, there are 96 active duty Catholic priests - down from 142 priests 10 years ago. With nearly a quarter of the Air Force population Catholic, the Air Force Personnel Center has determined the Air Force should have at least 160 Catholic chaplains.

Our shortage in the Air Force is a mirror-image of the problem in the American Catholic community, said Chaplain (Col.) Robert Bruno, Air Mobility Command Chaplain. We dont have enough of a Catholic capability in the chaplain service to meet Air Force requirements.

According to Chaplain Bruno, the conferences purpose was to gather a representative group of Catholic chaplains, in this case 26, and mix them with line officers and human resource experts to discuss difficulties that are impacting the Catholic chaplaincy right now. Together, they were to develop some institutionally feasible recommendations to present to Chaplain, Maj. Gen Charles Baldwin, Air Force Chief of Chaplains.

Attendees were broken into four working groups, each assigned specific areas of concern: priorities of utilization, retention and morale concerns, alternatives for installations without an assigned active duty Catholic chaplain, and possibilities for empowering non-chaplain Catholic personnel to assist or lead Catholic installation programs.

Assisting the groups were several guests, including Archbishop Edwin OBrien and Bishop Richard Higgins, representing the Archdiocese for Military Services, USA. Both offered a unique perspective from the DODs Catholic endorsing agency.

Were very serious about addressing the needs of our Catholic people in the military, said Archbishop OBrien. The finest of our chaplains are here and there are initiatives and experiments that might be undertaken not just how to get chaplains, but how to use them more effectively.

 

After nearly three days, the four groups presented several recommendations to Chaplin Baldwin. Where many of the groups proposals may take a lengthy time to implement, some can be put into practice almost immediately.

For example, the chaplaincy Air Force Specialty Code is currently divided into wing-level chaplains and headquarters-level chaplains; a generalized system which fails to identify the chaplaincys true requirements. Perhaps one of the first changes to take place will be a shreadout of the Chaplain AFSC, designating the five major faith groups Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, Orthodox, and Protestant with a suffix. This allows the career field to identify its needs to the Air Force, without risking the loss of billets.

Another important issue emphasized at the conference was recruitment and retention, a problem fueled by a workload shortfall.

The 96 chaplains we have today are meeting the requirements that 10 years ago 142 guys were working, said Chaplain Bruno. He believes continuing this way is not an option.

After hearing the recommendations, Chaplain Baldwin praised the participants for their hard work and great ideas. He assured them that he realizes that the Catholic requirements are real, and that the immediate solutions will be implemented.

If nothing else happens, this conference will have helped us give the wider Air Force institution visibility on our requirements and our shortfalls, said Chaplain Bruno. He stressed that the shortage of Catholic chaplains is not just a Catholic problem; its an Air Force problem.

[The Air Force chaplaincys] goal is to meet the spiritual requirements of all of our Airmen, he said. In order for [the chaplaincy] to meet those requirements, we have to be robust denominationally, racially and gender-wise across the board. If one [denomination] hurts, we all hurt.

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