Walter Reed: Catholic chaplains will be available (CNA)

Administrators at Walter Reed Hospital are promising that Catholic chaplains will be available for military patients, even after the institution terminated its long-term contract with Franciscan friars to act as chaplains.

After offering the contract to a firm that usually specializes in medical equipment, the hospital announced: “We have an ordained Catholic priest on staff and the awarded contract is to provide coverage in case our staff cannot.”

Archbishop Timothy Broglio, who supervises Catholic military chaplains, has protested the new contract, which became public during Holy Week, saying that it fails to ensure sacramental ministry for Walter Reed patients. The Archdiocese for Military Services noted that the Catholic priest now at Walter Reed is leaving the military.