U.S. Army Chaplain Father (Major General) Paul K. Hurley prominently featured on deployment to Afghanistan
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Portions of the soon-to-be-aired public television documentary, CHAPLAINS—prominently featuring the U.S. Army’s new Chief of Chaplains, Catholic Father (Major General) Paul K. Hurley while ondeployment to Afghanistan last year—will be screened at 7:00 p.m. (EDST) Sept. 10, 2015, in the Great Room of the Pryzbyla Student Center atCatholic University of America (CUA), 620 Michigan Avenue Northeast, Washington, D.C. The screening will be followed by a question-answer discussion with filmmaker Martin Doblmeier of Journey Films. Admission is free and open to the public. Campus parking is available in the lot next to the Pryzbyla Center, but space is limited, so attendees are encouraged to commute by Metro. Light refreshments will be provided by the CUA Knights of Columbus (K of C) Council.
Father Hurley, a priest of the Archdiocese of Boston who underwent his formation at St. John’s Seminary in Brighton, Mass., has long served in the Army with endorsement and faculties from the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA (AMS). On May 22, 2015, Father Hurley, an alumnus of the United States Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., took office as the Army’s 24th Chief of Chaplains. Just one year earlier, he was the senior U.S. Military chaplain on deployment to Afghanistan when Doblmeier and a film crew, in June 2014, shadowed the priest in battle fatigues, going about his pastoral work with U.S. servicemen and women, hearing their confessions, counseling them on spiritual matters, encouraging them in their service, and celebrating Mass.
“This is kind of a dangerous place,” Father Hurley tells filmmaker Doblmeier in CHAPLAINS. “But still, what am I here for? Why am I wearing this uniform? I believe God has led me here and given me this mission to care for these people, to minister to them, and it is not going to happen by me sitting in one place.” And so, the camera follows the chaplain closely as he moves about Afghanistan by helicopter to remote posts on the weary frontlines of a more-than-decade-old war, pursuing his ministry to those who serve. “People who face mortality have a much clearer picture of what is important. This also gives them that comfort and satisfaction that their lives are in relationship with God.”
With the 15-minute opening segment on Father Hurley setting the tone, the two-hour documentary shifts focus to other chaplains in various settings, including a motion picture retirement home in Hollywood, a poultry processing plant in Tennessee, a state penitentiary in Oregon, the U.S. Congress, at the hospital bedside, and even at the NASCAR racetrack. Through these diverse stories, CHAPLAINS offers an engrossing and thought-provoking look at brave men and women on the frontiers of faith, whose work crosses denominational differences and provides comfort to a broad cross-section of people eager for help and comfort.
Martin Doblmeier is known for his previous award-winning films on faith and spirituality, including BONHOEFFER, The ADVENTISTSand The POWER OF FORGIVENESS. A presentation of Maryland Public Television, CHAPLAINS begins airing nationally on PBS stations in November 2015 and will be available October 1 on DVD at www.journeyfilms.com.
