(LifeSiteNews) — Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has vowed to address the “weakening” of the military’s chaplain corps, promising, “We are going to make the Chaplain Corps great again,” while at the same time the Pentagon has pulled the plug on support contracts for Army chapels, including those for Catholic religious educators, administrators, and musicians, “placing an insurmountable restriction on the free exercise of religion.”
In an upbeat video message posted to social media, Hegseth decried the current “degraded” role of the military’s chaplain corps.
“In an atmosphere of political correctness and secular humanism, chaplains have been minimized, viewed by many as therapists instead of ministers,” recounted Hegseth. “Faith and virtue were traded for self-help and self-care.”
“As a first step toward creating a supportive environment for our warriors and their souls, we’re going to restore the esteemed position of chaplains as moral anchors for our fighting force,” declared the secretary of war.
“The chaplain is the pastor, and the shepherd of the souls entrusted to his care,” noted Hegseth, quoting the 1956 Army Chaplain’s Manual.
“This is a high and sacred calling,” he said. “But this only works if our shepherds are actually given the freedom to boldly guide and care for their flock.”
We are going to make the Chaplain Corps great again. pic.twitter.com/xbKZBdbiSR
— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) December 17, 2025
Hegseth’s message came on the heels of the publication of a pastoral letter by the Most Reverend Timothy P. Broglio, J.C.D., Archbishop for the Military Services, USA, decrying the recent contractual cuts that have hamstrung Catholic religious education and other important ministries for service men and women.
While the cuts were to chaplaincy contracts across all denominations, Archbishop Broglio said that the action “disproportionately harms Catholics, first, because Catholic chaplains are already so low density and in such high demand, and second because the Catholic faith requires continuing religious education and sacramental preparation that can only be accomplished through competent support.”
“The lack of appropriate staffing for chapels threatens spiritual poverty for Catholics in the military and their families,” he said.
Broglio said that the cancellations “over-burdens Catholic chaplains, harms chapel communities, and impedes the constitutional guarantee of the free exercise of religion especially for Catholics.”
He expressed “deep lament that the Army’s actions have proven so injurious to the practice of the Catholic faith on Army installations.”
“There are merely 137 Catholic chaplains serving in the active and reserve components of the U.S. Army, yet there are more than 2,500 chaplains in the U.S. Army Chaplain Corps,” explained Broglio. “This means that less than 5.5% of the Chaplain Corps is Catholic. However, about twenty-percent (26%) of soldiers are Catholic. RAND recently reported, ‘There are approximately six Protestant chaplains for every 1,000 Protestant soldiers, and approximately one Catholic chaplain for every 1,000 Catholic soldiers.’”
LifeSiteNews reached out to the Pentagon, asking if Sec. Hegseth’s “effort to restore the Chaplain Corps to its original intended role of spiritually ministering to troops will do anything to allay the concerns expressed by the head of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, in his October 17 pastoral letter addressed to members of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA and sent to every member of Congress?”
“We are encouraged by the tremendous support we have received this week from our Catholic Chaplains and service members across the globe in response to Secretary Hegseth’s statements and actions regarding his determination to Make the Chaplain Corps Great Again,” began a senior advisor for the secretary of war in response, who continued:
The Office of the Secretary of War is aware of the October 17th letter authored by Archbishop Brogolio.
As we continue to take a holistic approach to ensuring that our Chaplains are positioned for maximum missional success, the issues that Archbishop Brogolio brought light to [have] been and will continue to be a part of conversations as we decipher what is the best path forward for our service members, Chaplains and every soul in our care.
No time frame or specifics were offered by the Pentagon for either the restoration of the previous religious support contracts or improvements which would allow for a proportionate pastoral presence ministering to the sizeable number of Catholics serving in the U.S. Army.
“Congress recognized in the 1850s that failure to adequately provide for the military chaplaincy would deprive troops of their free exercise rights. This an obligation also recognized by federal courts, including the Supreme Court, more recently,” noted Christopher J. Motz, senior counsel in the military affairs practice group at First Liberty Institute, in an opinion piece penned for The Hill.
“The Army’s decision isn’t neutral cost-cutting; it is an insurmountable barrier to worship,” Motz said.
“This is not the first time the Pentagon has misstepped,” wrote Motz. “In 2020, the Navy announced its intent to cancel contracts vital to ensuring Catholic sailors had access to the sacraments. Broglio and others, including my organization, sounded the alarm, and the Navy promptly reversed course.”
“The Army should do likewise now,” he added.
