Catholic Priests Booted From Walter Reed

Unbelievable.

When a caller to the Kerry and Mike Show this week told us that Walter Reed National Military Medical Center had kicked out Catholic priests DURING HOLY WEEK and replaced them with a secular defense contractor I thought she was making it up.

She wasn’t. 

Here’s a rather shocking statement from the Archdiocese of Military Services, USA: 

WASHINGTON, DC – Walter Reed National Military Medical Center has issued a “cease and desist order” to Holy Name College, a community of Franciscan Catholic priests and brothers, who have provided pastoral care to service members and veterans at Walter Reed for nearly two decades.

The government’s cease and desist order directed the Catholic priests to cease any religious services at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. This order was issued as Catholics entered Holy Week, the most sacred of days in the Christian faith, in which they participate in liturgies remembering Jesus’ passion, and leading the Church to celebrate the Resurrection on Easter morning.

The Franciscans’ contract for Catholic Pastoral Care was terminated on March 31, 2023, and awarded to a secular defense contracting firm that cannot fulfill the statement of work in the contract. As a result, adequate pastoral care is not available for service members and veterans in the United States’ largest Defense Health Agency medical center either during Holy Week or beyond. There is one Catholic Army chaplain assigned to Walter Reed Medical Center, but he is in the process of separating from the Army.

What were these hospital knobturners thinking?

Timothy P. Broglio, Archbishop for the Military Services, accused hospital administrators of violating the First Amendment rights of patients.

“It is incomprehensible that essential pastoral care is taken away from the sick and the aged when it was so readily available.  This is a classic case where the adage ‘if it is not broken, do not fix it’ applies.  I fear that giving a contract to the lowest bidder overlooked the fact that the bidder cannot provide the necessary service.  I earnestly hope that this disdain for the sick will be remedied at once and their First Amendment rights will be respected.”

This outrageous move has not been widely reported in the media, however Mark Wingfield, a reporter for Baptist News Global, attempted to get some answers.

He was rebuffed.

In “Why Did Walter Reed Administrators Cancel Catholic Pastoral Care During Holy Week,” Wingfield found the brass at the military hospital evasive and unwilling to talk about the situation.

The reporter filed a FOIA request with the U.S. Defense Health agency, asking why the Franciscans were tossed from Walter Reed and the name of the company that got the new contract. He noted the importance of ordained Catholic priests to minister to the faithful, a factor seemingly unimportant to hospital brass.

For Catholics, even more so than other Christian denominations, providing pastoral care requires licensed or ordained officiants who would not be available to a secular contractor.

The unnamed firm awarded the contract “is incapable of providing priestly care,” (Archbishop) Broglio said. It’s like “hiring a brain surgeon who didn’t go to med school.”

The fact that Walter Reed has been reluctant to give a straight answer about the impetus for such a drastic move suggests that this is a boneheaded cost-cutting measure by administrators who are indifferent to the spiritual needs of patients.

Frankly, no one is more in need of pastoral care than those in military hospitals. The Biden administration needs to step in and fix this. 

Now