Catholic Priests Effectively Being Blocked from Walter Reed?

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franknd

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Normally I'd reserve judgment on a headline like this, but it's from the Archbishop for the Military Services. My mother died at Walter Reed and was seen by a priest the night she passed. I watched it. I can't imagine not having had that occur.

www.milarch.org

Walter Reed National Military Medical Center Terminates Catholic Pastoral Care Contract During Holy Week - Archdiocese for the Military, 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.
www.milarch.org www.milarch.org
 
franknd said:
Normally I'd reserve judgment on a headline like this, but it's from the Archbishop for the Military Services. My mother died at Walter Reed and was seen by a priest the night she passed. I watched it. I can't imagine not having had that occur.

www.milarch.org

Walter Reed National Military Medical Center Terminates Catholic Pastoral Care Contract During Holy Week - Archdiocese for the Military, 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.
www.milarch.org www.milarch.org
Click to expand...

Well there is a counter story which needs reporting:

Christian nationalist lawmakers concocting Walter Reed crisis - Freedom From Religion Foundation

Christian nationalist lawmakers are crying wolf over a contract termination involving pastoral care at the Walter Reed hospital, asserts the Freedom F...
ffrf.org ffrf.org

On March 31, Walter Reed ended its contract with Holy Name College Friary — a Franciscan community of priests that served at the center for nearly 20 years. Despite a clear warning that the contract was ending and that a new contract had been awarded to secular defense contractor Mack Global LLC effective April 1, the priests continued to show up at the facility. As a result, Walter Reed was forced to send a cease-and-desist letter to the priests informing them that they could no longer perform services since they were not under contract.

Two dozen Congress members, including outspoken Christian nationalists Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Paul Gosar and Lauren Boebert, have expressed outrage that the priests were ordered to stop providing pastoral care at the facility “days before Easter.”

The faux scandal raised by Christian nationalist organizations and lawmakers demonstrates the preferential treatment Christianity has received in the military, and why we must strenuously defend the separation between church and state. Eliminating Christian privilege — which means not giving special treatment to religious organizations — is not the same as evincing hostility toward religion. A secular company winning a government contract over a sectarian Christian organization is far from a crisis, instead demonstrating neutrality toward religion. The notion that once the government enters into a contract with a religious service provider it must renew that contract forever is preposterous. Not giving a Catholic organization special treatment over a secular organization shows fidelity to the Constitution, not hostility toward religion.
 
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Hmmm … my wife is the Pianist/Organist at our UMC congregation … and she has provided her services on an “Uninterrupted” basis for better than 23 years … give or take some breaks for other duties or a mini vacation now and then.

She is there every Tuesday evening for Choir support … she is on call for Every funeral … even for sister congregations … and of course … performs at the Sunday services.

I think the UMC going rate for her monthly Piano/Organ duties is around $800 a month … which is roughly $10,000 per year … not a whole lot for all that she gives … she is a Cornerstone … she is a Rock.

#### She doesn’t want a “Single Dime” … not one Penny … Nothing … ####

She does it out of Love and Care …

The new Walter Reed contracted providers surely see it as a threat to their livelihood if the Franciscans continue to show up on their dime ….

Why preclude the Franciscans from doing what they love to do … they don’t pump their faith …. I am almost certain that they have “Great Coffee Table Manners”

Let any Official of Any religion walk the halls of Walter Reed … properly vetted of course … on their dime …and do what they love to do …
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Day-Tripper said:
Well there is a counter story which needs reporting:

Christian nationalist lawmakers concocting Walter Reed crisis - Freedom From Religion Foundation

Christian nationalist lawmakers are crying wolf over a contract termination involving pastoral care at the Walter Reed hospital, asserts the Freedom F...
ffrf.org ffrf.org

On March 31, Walter Reed ended its contract with Holy Name College Friary — a Franciscan community of priests that served at the center for nearly 20 years. Despite a clear warning that the contract was ending and that a new contract had been awarded to secular defense contractor Mack Global LLC effective April 1, the priests continued to show up at the facility. As a result, Walter Reed was forced to send a cease-and-desist letter to the priests informing them that they could no longer perform services since they were not under contract.

Two dozen Congress members, including outspoken Christian nationalists Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Paul Gosar and Lauren Boebert, have expressed outrage that the priests were ordered to stop providing pastoral care at the facility “days before Easter.”

The faux scandal raised by Christian nationalist organizations and lawmakers demonstrates the preferential treatment Christianity has received in the military, and why we must strenuously defend the separation between church and state. Eliminating Christian privilege — which means not giving special treatment to religious organizations — is not the same as evincing hostility toward religion. A secular company winning a government contract over a sectarian Christian organization is far from a crisis, instead demonstrating neutrality toward religion. The notion that once the government enters into a contract with a religious service provider it must renew that contract forever is preposterous. Not giving a Catholic organization special treatment over a secular organization shows fidelity to the Constitution, not hostility toward religion.
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The Pastoral contract care at Walter Reed likely does address this including sacraments and last rites. From the WR website...

"Pastoral Care... is available to people of all faiths and those with no faith at all. Chaplains care for all...
Other Services... Chaplains can facilitate making connections for those from faiths other than their own. If you have a faith tradition not represented by our chaplains or contractors, we want to help you connect to that source of strength. Please contact us for assistance."
 
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It’s the umbrella service provider that is fomenting the Turf war … they don’t want their margins undercut by the roaming Franciscans …

Any retired military Chaplain who uses the service as a Conduit shouldn’t have a problem with their brothers in faith milling around …
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cb7893 said:
Lord, have mercy.

I'm curious if there is a pipeline of retired Military Chaplains to their payroll. My guess is yes.

mackglobal.com

Mack Global, LLC

We Work For You
mackglobal.com mackglobal.com
Click to expand...
LOL... I looked it up too. They provide contract janitorial supplies...

Speculation only... Or Mack Global knows the process to get base access and have contacts in religious groups not represented by WR Chaplains that provide religious services/pastoral care for that geographic region anyway... Like the Archdiocese of Washington for Catholics or the Pagan Circle in Columbia Md.
 
For services like these I’d rather they be offered by an established religious service rather than through a company that isn’t in this line of work and just underbids the established professionals.
Per their website they do not offer pastoral services currently. I’m guessing their next move is to fill the newly won staffing requirements with minimum wage individuals who in this case could easily be people who got their ordination online for $5.
I’ve been approached by contractors like this one before to offer executive business writing and career readiness classes at contracted bases. They were women owned but run by men, and they paid crap. As a company they had no expertise in the subject area and didn’t seem to care how knowledgeable the interviewees were, just that they accepted the low wages. I submitted a proposed class and lesson plan and never heard back. But my plan is on their website to describe what’s taught for their two-day executive business writing classes.
It bugs me because someone is making money providing poor quality services to the military. And in the case of career readiness that is a disservice to our vets who are getting out.
 
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