|
|
 |
|
CNS Story:
|
IRAQ-CHAPLAINS Jun-15-2006 (910 words) With photos. xxxi
U.S. troops must balance life at home, mission in Iraq, say chaplains
By Regina Linskey
Catholic News Service
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- U.S. troops deployed in Iraq must balance having "one foot home and one foot" halfway around the world, said an army chaplain.
"Some feel very helpless ... all they can do is send an e-mail" to solve a family crisis, said Father Brian Kane, an army chaplain for the 67th Area Support Group at Al Asad Airfield, in the Iraqi Al Anbar region. "But at the same time, they don't want home life affecting the mission here."
Father Paul Halladay, a battalion chaplain with the 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment (Air Assault) in Ramadi, said: "Life goes on back at home, and so do the crazy curves that life can throw at us. ... Sometimes, especially for men, that can be the most frustrating thing, not being able to be there and do something."
U.S. troops are also affected by the media's coverage of the war, said a deactivated Navy chaplain, Father Mark Reilly, who recently returned from Iraq to Watertown, in the Diocese of Ogdensburg, N.Y. He said that despite media reports of the public's disapproval of the war and an alleged Marine massacre of 24 civilians the troops do not show a "groundswell of negativity."
Fathers Reilly, Halladay and Kane spoke with Catholic News Service in a series of separate telephone and e-mail interviews. Though their anecdotes vary, all three said that spiritual and psychological counseling for soldiers was an underlying theme of their mission to serve God and country.
Father Halladay said he has to help his battalion, descendents of Stephen Ambrose's "Band of Brothers," keep it brotherly in a region in Iraq he calls "the most dangerous place on the planet." Father Reilly said he remembers cracking jokes with a 20-year-old Marine in the trauma room to relieve the soldier's fear and pain, visible by the beads of sweat on his forehead. Father Kane said he remembers counseling a soldier how to express love for her fiance, who was waiting for her in the U.S.
The three chaplains agreed that looming mortality and the absence of everyday distractions call for spiritual counseling, which often correlates into active Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults programs for soldiers returning to or joining Catholicism.
Father Halladay, a priest of the Archdiocese of Mobile, Ala., told CNS: "The life-threatening situations that we encounter daily ... cause all but the most spiritually stunted to pose the questions that ... will inevitably lead to a deeper relationship with God. Those questions touch on ... why some die and others are spared the same fate ... a fate that sometimes can be cheated by a sixth sense that experienced infantrymen develop to detect danger and avoid it; instinctively knowing when to zig when zagging would have certainly gotten you killed."
Most of what life in Iraq is about is control, Father Halladay said, adding that "when someone dies and someone lives, when everything goes right but the outcome is all wrong, it's no wonder that the questions of a religious nature are essentially about who's in control."
Meanwhile, part of a chaplain's duties is to be in charge of all things related to religion on a U.S. base, said Father Kane, a priest of the Diocese of Lincoln, Neb.
He said he informs his commander about Muslim holidays that might affect military missions and is also the gatekeeper of a mosque on the military base. He also provides guidance to the commander to ensure that missions are within "moral, ethical standards," he said.
Although Father Kane does not have much contact with Iraqis because of the location of the base, he has celebrated a late-night Christmas Mass with Christian Iraqi soldiers at a dirt wall surrounding a military post.
The soldiers were so thrilled to identify themselves as Catholics, Father Kane said, that they made sure he had on his vestments, and the Iraqis were holding crosses as they snapped pictures of themselves and Father Kane with disposable cameras. After singing "Silent Night," the soldiers were picked up in a helicopter that took them to their next raid, he said.
That Mass was one of many in the 31 hours that Father Kane celebrated Christmas Eve and Christmas. Father Kane estimated that he said one Mass every three hours.
The chaplains agreed the military needs more Catholic chaplains. According to the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services' Web site, "the need for more priests to minister to members of the military and their families is great. Most bases have a single priest; some must share their priest with other bases."
For example, Father Kane is in charge of visiting 14 bases, some of which he can only get to every two to three weeks, he said.
Father Halladay said there is a "shortage of (Catholic) chaplains, but no shortage of Catholics."
But being one of the few Catholic chaplains can be "a good opportunity to evangelize Protestant ministers," said Father Reilly.
For example, Father Reilly said, he was accompanied by a Protestant chaplain when he was administering last rites to a soldier.
The other chaplain "could just see the level of comfort with the ritual ... the suffering Christ, and he said, 'I wish we had something like that,'" said Father Reilly.
Father Reilly said he also sets the record straight for soldiers who ask him questions about Catholic doctrine, which he sees as an "exhilarating opportunity."
END
Copyright (c) 2006 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed.
CNS · 3211 Fourth St NE · Washington DC 20017 · 202.541.3250
|
|
|
|
