Military Chaplaincy Research Articles

Military Perspectives on the Provision of Spiritual Care in the Australian Defence Force: A Cross-Sectional Study

A module to explore perspectives on chaplaincy services was included in an online enterprise survey randomly distributed to members of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) during 2021. Up to eight questions were answered by 2783 active military personnel relating to their perception of chaplain activities and the impact of chaplaincy services. Of those military participants answering the question on religious status (n = 1116), a total of 71.6% (n = 799) of respondents identified as non-religious while 28.4% (n = 317) identified as holding a religious affiliation. Approximately 44.2% (n = 1230) of participants had sought support from a chaplain, of which 85.3% (n = 1049) found chaplaincy care to be satisfactory or very satisfactory. While the data suggest there is a lack of clarity around the multiple roles undertaken by chaplaincy, nevertheless respondents were just as likely to prefer chaplains for personal support (24.0%), as they were to seek help from non-chaplaincy personnel such as a non-ADF counsellor (23.2%), their workplace supervisor (23.1%) or a psychologist (21.8%). This evidence affirms that the spiritual care provided by military chaplaincy remains one of several preferred choices and thus a valued part of the holistic care provided by the ADF to support the health and wellbeing of its members.

Jasne i ciemne karty w dziejach Cerkwi prawosławnej w II Rzeczypospolitej

The article presents light and dark pages in the history of the Orthodox Church in the Second Polish Republic. The positive pages in the history of the Orthodox Church in the Second Polish Republic include the normalization of the legal status of the Orthodox Church in the Polish state. Autocephaly accelerated the process of fully shaping the church organizational structure at the diocesan, deanery and parish levels. The Orthodox Church in the Second Polish Republic could boast of a high level of development of monasticism and church education. After the announcement of the establishment of an independent church structure, the activities of the Orthodox military chaplaincy in the Second Polish Republic began to develop. We must also remember about the negative phenomena in the history of the Orthodox Church in the Second Polish Republic, such as: revindication processes, illegal seizure and demolition of Orthodox religious buildings, neo-union, proselytism by the Roman Catholic Church and the treatment of Orthodox Christians by state authorities as second-class citizens.

Spiritual origin of national patriotic education in the military chaplaincy system

The article examines the role of military chaplaincy in the formation of national-patriotic education of the Ukrainian army. The relevance and novelty of the research lies in determining the essence of Ukrainian military patriotism’s spiritual foundations, which is formed on the archetypes of "clan", "Father", "Mother", "Family". Historically, "Father" embodies power, dominion not only over the body, but also over the soul, he brings conscience and moral grounds for subordination in the entire military family, based on the principles of fraternity. The archetype of "Mother" was formed from ancient Slavic ideas about Berehynia, in the Christian era it receives a new incarnation in the image of the Mother of God as the heavenly protector of the entire human race.
 One of a woman-mother archetype’s varieties in Ukrainian spiritual culture is Mother Nature, which transforms into the archetype of Mother Earth, which in turn is transferred to the paradigm of the native land - "Nenka-Ukraina", creating the archetype of the Motherland. The lack of desire to conquer others and the desire to preserve one's original, native, defines the essence of the Ukrainian army’s patriotism. It has been established that the Orthodox tradition of military chaplaincy is based on the spiritual union of Cossacks and monasticism during the liberation struggle. Later, the formation of the Ukrainian military clergy was closely connected with the Greek Catholic Church, which at that time had the greatest experience in moral and spiritual support of the Ukrainian national liberation struggle participants in the western Ukrainian lands. The dangers of the destructive influence of pro-Russian denominations’ priests on the moral and psychological state of military personnel are analyzed. It was noted that the armed aggression against Ukraine led to the intensified use of the church and the clergy’s potential for consolidation of the population and strengthening of patriotic feelings in servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as to expose and isolate pro-Russian religious communities. On the basis of the positive experience of the leading world’s countries, an own system of professional training and education of personnel was created, which was based on defining principles: national dignity, patriotism, Christian morality, fidelity to the oath, fidelity to military duty.

War, Peace and Military Chaplaincy: Lessons Learned from Ukraine

Roman Zaviyskyy is a philosopher and theologian and president of the Ukrainian branch of the European Society of Catholic Theology. In June, he spent two weeks in the Netherlands at the invitation of Tilburg School of Catholic Theology to get in touch with colleagues and to conduct research into Catholic thinking about peace and war (supported by the Ladies of Bethany Research Fellowship, established by the Tilburg University Fund). In this interview, I asked him to reflect on the position and tasks of military chaplains in Ukraine, his wartime experiences, questions about peace and war, and Catholic responses to the war.

Herrens Veje: A catalyst to reflect upon military chaplaincy and ecclesial issues in a Nordic context

Herrens Veje: A catalyst to reflect upon military chaplaincy and ecclesial issues in a Nordic context

How Military Chaplains Strengthen the Moral Resilience of Soldiers and Veterans: Results From a Case Studies Project in the Netherlands

AbstractIn spiritual care research, studies on military chaplaincy are underrepresented, and most available studies center on moral injury. This article contributes to the existing literature on spiritual care in the military by presenting a study of 13 case descriptions of spiritual care provision by military chaplains from the Netherlands. These were analyzed using the framework method, a qualitative method of systematically searching for patterns in data sets, in order to answer the question: How do military chaplains contribute to the moral resilience of soldiers and veterans experiencing moral stress? The analytical framework was constructed on the basis of Doehring’s (Pastoral Psychology, 64(5), 635–649, 2015) conceptual understanding of moral resilience as the outcome of processes of spiritual integration of moral stress in caregiving relationships. This study shows that soldiers experience moral stress when core values associated with ‘being a soldier’ conflict with expectations or actions of soldiers themselves or of others, with the way the military organization functions, or with the spiritual notion of ‘being a good, loving and loveworthy human being’. In their responses to moral stress, chaplains contribute to moral resilience by engaging in co-creating spiritual orienting frameworks which accommodate a sense of goodness of self and others and allow for nuanced, biographically rooted moral views. Soldiers experience conversations and brief encounters with chaplains as relational ‘moments of goodness’, which may also contribute to moral resilience.

Religion in the Process of Nation-Building in Ukraine: Case Study on the UGCC and Military Chaplaincy

Priests of various faiths have tried to accompany Ukrainian soldiers as military chaplains since the very beginning of the fighting in eastern Ukraine. Finally, the Ukrainian parliament regularized the status of the military chaplaincy adopting a relevant law. Analyzing the process of shaping the chaplaincy allows us to better understand the place of religious communities and religion itself in the social life of post-Soviet Ukraine. It also allows for an examination of the nation-building process from a different and very interesting perspective. The article consists of three parts. The first one briefly presents the process of institutionalizing the military service of priests in Ukraine. In the next part, the significance of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church’s (UGCC) special activity in the field of military chaplaincy is demonstrated. The third part attempts to explain the reasons why the UGCC, despite a number of objective limitations, plays the leading role in the sphere of chaplaincy in Ukraine.

Żołnierska służba z Bogiem w obronie Ojczyzny

Thinking about military service identifies this concept with service to values (as well as to other people) and what is considered particularly valuable, important for a soldier, for the nation, for the Homeland. Here we have in mind those values that determine the essence and meaning of the soldier's service, and which are, in a way, the axiological compass of his actions. Firstly, these are words-values placed on military banners (God - Honor - Homeland), and secondly - the rota of the military oath sworn by soldiers (in the presence of the banner), as a set of social, moral and transcendental values. The considerations in this study will refer to transcendental values and thinking about military service in terms of the concept of "service to God". Therefore, the problem of the presence of God in the military service of the Republic of Poland as our homeland will be analyzed. In particular, it is about the reference to God, i.e. the words "so help me God" uttered by soldiers during the military oath on the military banner, on which (next to Homeland and Honor) there is the word God. Therefore, service and sacrifice for the Homeland, but with the support of Providence - in a word, service to the Homeland and God, for the glory of the Republic of Poland and God. Also with the spiritual support of chaplains and the entire military chaplaincy. Key words: God, honor, homeland, soldiers, military service, military chaplaincy.

Conceptual issues and stages of establishment of military chaplainty in independent Ukraine

The formation of the chaplaincy movement in the context of the formation of independent Ukraine (after 1991) required the solution of a number of issues, primarily of a conceptual nature. The initiators of the restoration of chaplaincy faced the underestimation of the chaplaincy factor, the risks of transferring interfaith disputes to the military environment. In fact, it was a question of finding their own model of chaplaincy service, which would provide an optimal model for organizing the work of chaplains. The authors propose to divide the development of the chaplaincy movement in independent Ukraine into three stages, which differ not only chronologically but also in their characteristics. The first stage (1991-2005) was characterized by a rethinking of the role and place of religion in the activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The idea of a chaplaincy service was revived primarily on the basis of the volunteer movement. Volunteers also encouraged churches to form appropriate structures that would be responsible for chaplaincy work. At this stage, the driving force behind the formation of the chaplaincy movement was the unstable informal ties between church and security forces in Ukraine. With the advent of the first legal acts that regulated the search for optimal models for creating the chaplaincy institute, the second stage of development of the chaplaincy movement in Ukraine began. It lasted from 2006 to 2013. During this time, regulations were developed and implemented that institutionalized the relationship between the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and the country's largest churches and religious organizations. The third stage began with the beginning of the Russian Federation's attack on Ukraine in 2014 and continues to this day. The annexation of Crimea and the outbreak of hostilities in eastern Ukraine created the need to sharply increase the number of chaplains and to legalize them in military institutions. Already in 2015-2016, the formation of the state regulatory framework of the chaplaincy institute began and staff positions of chaplains in military units were introduced. On the other hand, there has also been a qualitative growth in the theoretical and practical training of chaplains and their material support. These processes show that the establishment of the institute of military chaplaincy in Ukraine has actually taken place. In each period, the authors highlight the problematic issues that government agencies and religious organizations addressed in organizing the chaplaincy movement. Particular attention was paid to the attempts of activists to form their own model of chaplaincy ministry and the problematic issues of improving the quality of chaplains' training. In particular, it was pointed out that the best way for Ukraine is to organize separate chaplaincy faculties in the country's higher educational institutions to train specialists at the level of world standards.

Զինծառայողների հոգևոր դաստիարակության կարևորությունը / The importance of spiritual education of military personnel

Spiritual element is a necessary component in the education of the military personnel. Without spirituality, it is difficult to educate a person in the qualities of self-sacrifice, discipline, sense of responsibility and honor, which are necessary for the defender of the Motherland. The Army not only teaches a military profession and creates physical fitness, but also educates high spiritual and moral qualities based on patriotism, which is impossible without the participation of the Holy Church. Realizing the importance of spiritual education of servicemen in the Armenian Army, the spiritual leadership or military chaplaincy of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia was established in 1997. Its mission is to teach soldiers Holy Bible and tenets of Christian faith, according to the creed of the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church, as well as to educate them with Christian moral principles and patriotic spirit of selfless service to the interests of the state and nation. Faith helps a person to maintain discipline, to overcome fears and call of the self-preservation instinct in case of danger, and first of all during military actions. Certainly, spiritual, moral and ideological education among military personnel automatically raises the level of discipline, psychological stability, morale, conscious fulfillment of one’s duty of the Motherland Defender, their fighting ability and professionalism.

Chaplain Service Pastor as a Special Kind of Public Service Military Officer in the Ukrainian Army

The article is devoted to the study of the chaplain’s legal status as a serviceman of the Ukrainian army, and the service of military chaplains as a component of the public service system in Ukraine, to the identification of signs and peculiarities of their legal regulation. The authors suggest considering a military chaplain as an employee of a separate type of public service, which has a dualistic status: on the one hand, he is a military serviceman, and on the other, a religious servant of a certain church. Despite the fact that the practice of military chaplaincy under the new legislation in Ukraine has not been developed yet, the duality of status will emerge in some practical and theoretical problems, which are also described and analysed in the article.

The phenomenon of military chaplaincy in the spiritual and worldview paradigm of modern Ukraine

The article studies the genesis of the military chaplaincy phenomenon in Ukraine. The author analyses the critical models of military chaplaincy in different world armies. The spiritual ministry of the chaplain stands between the Church and the state, which forces them to be in a war-torn world, and at the same time to remain outside the mundane, given the inevitable contradictions between total obedience to the military and humble obedience to God. Religious education is a component of the system of combat and moral and psychological training of military personnel. It is entrusted with the main task - to maintain the troops' high spiritual, patriotic, and combat potential. The main stages of the formation of military chaplaincy in Ukraine in the context of its instantiation are presented in the study. In the national context, the institute of military chaplaincy exists due to the manifestations of the national liberation movement in terms of military threats, forming the image of the chaplain as not only a spiritual but a deeply patriotic personality. It is defined that a robust challenge in the formation of the national military chaplaincy was the war of Russia against Ukraine, which has mobilised the internal potential of active cooperation of state military and religious institutions in the legislative and regulatory framework of military chaplains. The article describes the peculiarities of attracting positive world experience of military chaplaincy. The relevance and novelty of the study are explained by the involvement of a systematic approach that makes it possible to analyse the formation of domestic military chaplaincy in the context of applying positive world experience and preserving its national specificity, focused on the ideological foundations of moral and patriotic education of military personnel. The main directions of religious organisations' activities in military structures are cult and worship, psychological and rehabilitation, ideological and patriotic, spiritual and moral, and motivational and social. It is found that the importance of the global challenges facing the Ukrainian state and its Armed Forces requires military chaplains not only to perform religious functions but, above all, to ensure the high moral qualities of service members, the formation of civic duty to protect the state, to foster the spirit of patriotism, brotherhood, and mutual respect.

De vraag naar eigenheid

Military Chaplaincy in the Dutch armed forces play an important and estimated role in the care-giving systems of the military. What guarantees its independence from military goals? Protestant chaplains also are ordained ministers, being sent to the military by their churches. What can and should be their own role in supporting and inspiring those chaplains? The author asks for a stronger involvement of protestant theology and of the sending Churches into Chaplaincy and the chaplains, and into issues related to war and peace and to the impact of military deployments on the personnel.

‘Rechtvaardige oorlog’

The key question regarding the validity of ‘Just War’ is analyzed as a limited one: it is not a theory, rather an approach. The underlying issue is the need for a paragraph regarding ethics in case of escalation of international conflict. Its validity depends on the integration in comprehensive concepts of peace, justice and security – even in case of apreference for ‘Just Peace’. The ethics of peace also requires a contemporary political theology. Military chaplaincy has a legitimate educational role to play regarding ‘Just War’ and its future varieties or alternatives.

Change in the Importance of Ethnicity and Religiosity in the British Armed Forces from the Perspective of the Military Chaplaincy

Like the armed forces of every country, the British Army is undergoing constant structural change and is doing so to respond to the latest challenges of its time. As part of this process, a clear trend in the personnel composition is becoming apparent, playing a catalyst for change. My working hypothesis is that ethnic and religious change should be the primary focus, precisely because these two factors, and changes in the proportion of these factors, are currently seen as having the most significant impact on military chaplaincy. Furthermore, by looking at these transformations, the growing number of theoretical challenges to the organisation of chaplaincy and the increasing number of practical obstacles to chaplains themselves can be best understood. I will use qualitative method to prove my hypothesis, utilising statistical data and personal narratives. Methods and rules to address the problems that arise without any criteria are not currently in place in the British Army, as it seems that at the moment, even amid change, only flexible responses to these challenges can be given, as the situation demands. I will focus on these at the end of the thesis alongside forecasting the upcoming resolutions.

The Korean Buddhist Military Chaplaincy and Modern "State-Protection" Buddhism: A Study of the Mass Military Faith Promotion Movement

The Korean Buddhist Military Chaplaincy and Modern "State-Protection" Buddhism: A Study of the Mass Military Faith Promotion Movement

Constitutional and legal status of military chaplains in Ukraine

The realities of modern Ukraine are conditioned by the denial and reassessment of values inherited from the Soviet past, the search for new democratic ways of preserving and transmitting cultural experience, associated with the decline of previous ones and the simultaneous emergence of other, new European socio-cultural structures. The socio-cultural activity of social subjects regarding the creation of this new system of cultural values takes place against the background of complex and contradictory foreign and domestic political processes in the conditions of a large-scale war as a result of the military aggression of the Russian Federation on February 24, 2022, and as a result of fundamental changes in state-church relations.The topicality of the topic is due to the fact that one of the key issues of military-religious relations in Ukraine is the introduction of the institute of military clergy in the Armed Forces of Ukraine (hereinafter – the Armed Forces). Considering the high level of religiosity of the population in Ukraine in general and in the Armed Forces in particular, the need to have military chaplains in the army to ensure the satisfaction of the religious needs of servicemen is becoming urgent.In order to achieve the specified goal, the article: researched the conceptual and categorical apparatus and clarified the concept of freedom of worldview and religion, the functional duties of the military chaplaincy in Ukraine are defined, the state of formation of the regulatory framework regarding the activities of military chaplains in the conditions of martial law was characterized and proposals for its improvement were developed.

Legal Regulation of the Formation of Military Chaplaincy Institute in Ukraine

Legal Regulation of the Formation of Military Chaplaincy Institute in Ukraine

Military and Alternative (Non-Military) Service of Religious Citizens in Ukraine

The article considers the essence of the proper legal regulation of the military and alternative (non-military) services of religious citizens in Ukraine, which has gained a new relevance in the background of the another stage of the Russian-Ukrainian war. The right to replace the military service with an alternative one, its legal regulation, and the possible enhancement of such regulation are the subject of a full-scaled analysis. The article identifies the issues of the implementation of the right to freedom of conscience in military service in the modern state of war conditions and changes in the religious map of Ukraine. Conclusions were made on the need to preserve the institution of alternative service and the establishment of a full-fledged institution of military chaplaincy.

Arthur Carl Piepkorn: Chaplain to the Greatest Generation by John Hannah

Reviewed by: Arthur Carl Piepkorn: Chaplain to the Greatest Generation by John Hannah Matthew L. Becker Arthur Carl Piepkorn: Chaplain to the Greatest Generation. By John Hannah. Delhi, New York: ALPB Books, 2020. 88 pp. Other than Jaroslav Pelikan, Arthur Carl Piepkorn (1907–1973) was the most erudite and influential historical theologian to have taught at Concordia Seminary St. Louis in the twentieth century. [End Page 212] He served on that faculty between 1951 and his forced retirement in 1973, an event that likely contributed to his death that same year. Not only did he teach and write brilliantly on a broad range of theological topics, he also served with great distinction as a chaplain in the United States Army. Indeed, Piepkorn's influence on the Army chaplaincy after 1945 is hard to overestimate. His "after-action report" about chaplains in the European theater led to significant and enduring reforms. John Hannah, who studied under Piepkorn and was encouraged by him to become an Army chaplain (retiring at the rank of colonel), divides his book into three parts. The first and largest section covers Piepkorn's appointment as an Army chaplain in 1936, his rapid advancement in Europe during and after the Second World War, his after-action report, and his service in the Army Reserve (Office of Chief of Chaplains) between 1951 and 1967. Hannah demonstrates how Piepkorn's military service fit well with his interest in ecumenism and led directly to the writing of his posthumously published multi-volume magnum opus, Profiles in Belief (1977–79). While Hannah's second section offers a very positive assessment of Piepkorn's chaplaincy and his role in paving the way for other Lutheran chaplains to rise to high levels of leadership across all military branches, the final part contains the address that Piepkorn delivered at the first annual training conference of Army chaplains in 1969. Given at the height of the Vietnam War, when many Americans were questioning the legitimacy and legality of the military chaplaincy, Piepkorn's address provides an abiding rationale for such a ministry "pro deo et patria." Despite the book's interesting anecdotes (for example, about Piepkorn's work as a translator for General Eisenhower) and its helpful insights into a humble, diaconal approach to military chaplaincy, the book is hagiographic and occasionally repetitive. As much as we should appreciate Piepkorn's life and service, one wonders if the man was totally bereft of faults or weaknesses. This important theologian deserves a larger biography, one that would allow for deeper, more critical analysis of his life and work. (A model for that would be Tim Townsend's book on Henry Gerecke, another Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod chaplain: Mission at Nuremberg, [End Page 213] 2014.) Still, for anyone who wants to learn about a model military chaplain from the past century, this book is a good place to start. Matthew L. Becker Valparaiso University Valparaiso, Indiana Copyright © 2022 Johns Hopkins University Press and Lutheran Quarterly, Inc.