Twenty-Seven Men Gather for Discernment Retreat on Possible Vocations as U.S. Military Chaplains

Gathering comes as part of ongoing effort to relieve chronic shortage of Catholic chaplains on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces

Archbishop Timothy Broglio with fellow clergy and prospective Catholic U.S. Military chaplain candidates at the annual AMS Spring Discernment Retreat in Menlo Park, CA, on March 22, 2024.

MENLO PARK, CA – A Catholic military chaplain serves God and Country, but how to know if you are called to wear both collar and colors? That’s the question for 27 young men gathered here this weekend to explore the “vocation within a vocation.” Those who discern a call may soon enter seminary to become priests and eventually, officers in the U.S. Armed Forces, Serving Those Who Serve, helping ease a shortage of Catholic chaplains on active duty.

His Excellency, the Most Reverend Timothy P. Broglio, J.C.D., Archbishop for the Military Services, USA (AMS), is hosting the March 21-24 discernment retreat for prospective chaplain candidates at St. Patrick’s Seminary. Father Aidan Logan, acting Vocations Director of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA (AMS), and his soon-to-be successor, Father Marcel Taillon, are directing the four-day retreat for those discerning the call. Father Taillon assumes the position on April 15.

The retreatants include 20 men already associated with the military, and seven civilians. Most have expressed interest in a particular branch of service. Ten are considering the Army; nine, the Air Force, which also provides chaplains for the Space Force; and two, the Navy, which provides chaplains for the Marines and the Coast Guard. A half-dozen are undecided going into the retreat. The Department of Defense (DoD) requires AMS endorsement for any Catholic to serve as chaplain in any branch.

During the retreat Archbishop Broglio will celebrate Holy Mass, give talks, and otherwise take part in the four days of prayer, reflection, and dialogue. The DoD’s Catholic chaplain recruiters will be among priests on hand to help retreatants decide if priesthood and military chaplaincy are for them. They include Fathers Mikolaj (Nick) Scibior, CH (MAJ), USA; Peter A. Pomposello, CH (CPT), USA; Matthew P. Pawlikowski, CH (COL), USA (Ret.); David J. Hammond, CHC, LCDR, USN; Luke R. Dundon, CHC, LCDR, USN; William J. Vit, Ch, Maj, USAF; and Zachary Kautzky, Ch, Capt, USAF.

The California gathering is one of two discernment retreats the AMS holds annually in the United States, one on either side of the country. The next will be held from Oct. 31 to Nov. 3, 2024, at St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore, MD. Young men interested in participating may contact the AMS Vocations office at vocations@milarch.org or (202) 719-3600.

The annual discernment retreats come as the AMS toils to relieve a desperate shortage of active-duty Catholic U.S. Military chaplains. The shortage results from attrition: aging chaplains are retiring faster than they can be replaced. The decline has persisted for decades—over the past 25 years alone, the active-duty roster has shrunk from more than 400 to fewer than 200. Currently, 25% of the Military is Catholic, but Catholic priests make up only about seven percent of the chaplain corps, leaving them stretched thin over a globally dispersed faith community on a scale of one priest per 1,750 service members, not counting their families.

Paradoxically, church studies show the military itself is the largest single source of U.S. priestly vocations. An annual Survey of Ordinands to the Priesthood, conducted by the Center of Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University, found that of the Class of 2023, 4% of U.S. priests ordained last year once served in the armed forces and 12% come from military families. The actual numbers are certain to be higher because only 334 of 458 identified ordinands, or 73% of the total, responded to the survey.

The AMS continues to tap this source for prospective chaplains. The Vocations Office is focusing attention on active-duty servicemen expressing an interest in the priesthood, inviting more of them to attend one of the discernment retreats. Over the past few years, this outreach has begun to yield a bountiful harvest, with a growing number of young men answering “yes” to God’s call through the Co-Sponsored Seminarian Program (CSP), a vocations partnership between the AMS and cooperating dioceses and religious communities. Enrollment has grown from seven in 2008 to an all-time high of 47 before the pandemic, producing 15 new diaconal and presbyteral ordinations this year alone. Currently, 34 men are enrolled in the program, preparing for priestly ordination and military chaplaincy in hopes of relieving the shortage.

The CSP was established in the 1980s to encourage military service commitments from candidates for priesthood. Co-sponsorship means that a participating, non-AMS bishop or religious superior agrees to accept a prospective U.S. Military chaplain in his diocese or religious community as a seminarian, and the seminarian will participate in the chaplain candidacy program of one of the military branches. The AMS and the seminarian’s home diocese or religious community split the cost of his five-year, $50,000-per-year formation, each paying half of tuition, room-and-board, and other expenses, or about $25,000 a year per co-sponsored seminarian. Typically, once the seminarian is ordained a priest, he will work in his home diocese or religious community for three years before going on active duty. Once he completes his military service, he will return to his home diocese or religious community to serve out his vocation.

For the AMS and those she serves, the increase in co-sponsored seminarians over the past few years is a mixed blessing. While more prospective Catholic U.S. Military chaplains are in the pipeline now, the costs for their formation have soared exponentially. The AMS’s share is projected at more than $4.5 million just over the next five years. The AMS receives no funding from the military or the government and gratefully welcomes donations at www.milarch.org/give.

Young men interested in discerning a priestly vocation, and the vocation within a vocation to serve those who serve in the U.S. Military, can find more information at www.milarch.org/vocations, or may contact the AMS Vocations Office at vocations@milarch.org or (202) 719-3600.

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