Archdiocese accuses Walter Reed of violating First Amendment right to freedom of religion

The Catholic Archdiocese of Military Services accuses Walter Reed National Military Medical Center of violating patients’ right to freedom of religion by terminating contracts with Catholic priests prior to Holy Week.

The archdiocese claimed Friday that Walter Reed — the nation’s top military hospital that also serves congressmen and presidents — had issued a “cease and desist” order against Holy Name College Friary, a Franciscan community of priests that serves nearly 20 years at the center. year.

As part of the order, the archdiocese said, Catholic priests were ordered to halt religious services at the hospital ahead of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday commemorations.

Instead, it contracted with a for-profit secular company that Archbishop Timothy Broglio says will not be able to provide adequate care to Catholic patients.

But executives at Walter Reed said their contract with Holy Name is just “under review,” claiming it would still hold Easter services with an ordained Catholic priest.

Archdiocese officials for the Military Service say the hospital has issued a ‘cease and desist’ order to Holy Name College Friary, a Franciscan community of priests that had served at the center for nearly 20 years

In a rack to the Church’s followers, Broglio denounced Walter Reed’s decision to kick out the Catholic priests as “incomprehensible.”

“It is incomprehensible that essential pastoral care is being taken away from the sick and aged when it was so readily available,” he said, adding: “This is a classic case where the adage goes, ‘If it ain’t broke, fix it. not.” it applies.

“I fear that giving a contract to the lowest bidder overlooks the fact that the bidder cannot provide the necessary service,” he continued, claiming that Walter Reed’s decision violates the free exercise of religion guaranteed by the First Amendment.

He noted that only ordained Catholic priests can perform certain practices, such as saying Mass and administering Confession.’

Archbishop Timothy Broglio called the move ‘incomprehensible’

“Particularly during Holy Week, the lack of adequate Catholic pastoral care is causing untold and irreparable harm to hospitalized Catholics and thus a captive population whose religious rights the government has a constitutional duty to provide and protect,” the archdiocese said. .

“I sincerely hope that this contempt for the sick will be immediately remedied and that their First Amendment rights will be respected,” Broglio added.

He said a lawyer for the archdiocese contacted the hospital numerous times during Holy Week, requesting that the Franciscans’ Catholic office be restored at least by Easter, but received no response.

As a result, church officials say, only one chaplain from the Catholic army has been assigned to the hospital, “but he is in the process of separating from the army.”

Walter Reed officials have said they will continue to hold Catholic Easter services

However, Walter Reed officials say they are continuing to serve their patients’ spiritual needs, noting that the hospital is a “welcoming and healing environment that honors and supports a range of religious, spiritual and cultural needs.”

In a statement on Saturday, hospital officials said “Catholic Easter services will be provided to those who wish to attend.”

“Services include a celebration of Mass and the administration of confession by an ordained Catholic priest,” it noted, adding, “For many years, a Catholic ordained priest has been employed by WRNMMC who provides religious sacraments to military personnel, veterans and their loved ones. . In addition, there is a pastoral care contract to supplement the services provided.’

But, the statement said, officials are now reviewing the pastoral care contract “to ensure it adequately supports the religious needs of our patients and beneficiaries.”

“While the Franciscan diocese will not hold services on Sundays at this time, parishioners of the diocese can still seek services while patients are in our facilities,” the hospital administrators said.