IMAGE: CNS illustration/Liz Agbey
By Chaz Muth
SAN
DIEGO (CNS) — There is something distinctive about the chapel where Father
William J. Brunner now celebrates Mass.
It
floats.
To
be more precise, it’s in a space aboard the U.S. Navy’s warship USS America docked
in San Diego.
The
fresh-faced, 31-year-old priest is one of the newest members of the Navy’s
chaplain corps, having graduated from chaplaincy school last November. Though
he hasn’t served on the ship long, he’s already seen how different his new
ministry is compared to his former parish in the Diocese of Green Bay, Wisconsin.
The
obvious difference is the worship space. Instead of a church, he shares a small
room that serves as both a library and a chapel with other religions
denominations, aboard a ship where fighter planes land on deck.
Though
the cheery young priest with the megawatt smile celebrates Mass in traditional
vestments, when he peals the garb off after his religious service is concluded,
he doesn’t reveal traditional black clerics with a white collar.
Instead,
he is sporting a blue camouflage uniform with the name “Brunner”
embroidered above his right breast pocket and “U.S. Navy” stitched
above the left, similar to every other sailor on the ship, except he has a
cross on his left collar to signify his role as chaplain.
“I
administer the sacraments on the ship similarly to the way I did at my parish,
but the way I conduct my ministry is very different,” Father Brunner told
Catholic News Service shortly before celebrating daily Mass aboard the USS
America in May.
Since
he’s a Navy officer, he has duties in addition to religious functions, which
include inspecting portions of the ship while the sailors are conducting
routine cleaning.
It
doesn’t, however, distract him from his role as chaplain, Father Brunner said.
It gives him an opportunity to interact with people he may not otherwise come
into contact with. Plus, their religious traditions are varied and sometimes
nonexistent.
“It’s
an opportunity for these folks to connect with a priest,” he said. “Sometimes
it’s the first time they’ve ever had a conversation with a priest.”
Occasionally
the dialogue takes on a theological theme and other times the sailor has a
personal issue that requires a sympathetic, compassionate and confidential ear,
something the ship’s chaplain is equipped to handle.
Father
Brunner said most of his ministry takes place while he is doing something the Navy
calls deck plating — walking throughout the ship, making his presence known
and eagerly connecting with the men and women on board.
The
ministry of presence makes the military chaplaincy unique and several chaplains
told CNS it answers the call from Pope Francis for priests to get out of the rectory
and smell like the sheep.
In
this message to priests, the pope is calling on them to go out into the world,
away from the church, and connect with people where they work, reside, play and
live life.
That
pretty much describes the role of the military chaplain, who frequently works
side-by-side with his fellow soldiers, airmen, sailors, Marines or “Coasties”
(members of the Coast Guard), said Father John Reutemann, chaplain at Malmstrom
Air Force Base in Great Falls, Montana.
The
connection with the men and women he serves with is intensified during a war-zone
deployment, because the chaplain shares the same risks and living conditions.
“When
Pope Francis starts talking that way, you know, we were joking whether or not
he got that from us or we got that from him,” Father Reutemann said with a
laugh.
The
mantra for military chaplains is they nurture the living, care for the wounded
and honor the dead.
They
do that by living the life of a soldier, an airman, a sailor, a Marine or a Coastie,
said Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military
Services in Washington.
That
earns the priest credibility among members of the military, said Father Michael
A. Mikstay, a Navy chaplain who currently serves at the Marine Corps Recruit
Depot San Diego.
Each
time Father Mikstay has been assigned to a Marine Corps unit that has been
deployed to a war zone, he has gone along with them.
Though
he is considered a noncombat member of the military and is not issued a weapon,
he still trains, travels and sometimes shares living quarters with members of
his unit.
“To
become one of them makes us effective and gives us entrance into the lives of
those we serve,” Father Mikstay said.
Smelling
like the sheep is what drives Father Lukasz J. Willenberg in his ministry as a
chaplain in the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division’s 505th Parachute Infantry
Regiment located at Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
Though
Father Willenberg is not required to participate in the mandatory 6:30 a.m.
formation with the other soldiers, he does it anyway to forge camaraderie.
Following
formation, he leads a group of men through morning physical training, better
known as PT, a staple in military life.
Father
Willenberg is as devoted to physical fitness as he is to his Catholic faith,
which has helped him connect with the soldiers, said 1st Sgt. Robert
Frame of the Headquarters Company in the 82nd Airborne Division.
“I
think that helps soldiers to want to seek the chaplain out a little more,”
Frame told CNS during a March interview at Fort Bragg. “It’s easier for
them to talk to him, that is if they can keep up with him.”
Though
Father Willenberg said soldiers do seek his counsel frequently by coming to his
office, he said many also approach him during morning formation and PT.
“I
think it’s very important for me to be there, to be part of morning formation,
but also to be part of their struggle,” the 34-year-old priest said. “Sometimes
it’s cold, sometimes it’s raining, sometimes you simply just don’t feel like
being there at 6:30 a.m.
“By
simply being there, you can prove to them that I care. That I’m here for you no
matter what.”
The
parish priest does know his parishioners and has made it his job to be there
for them spiritually and emotionally, said Father Andrew Lawrence, program
manager for the U.S. Army’s Chaplain Basic Officer Leader Course in Fort
Jackson, South Carolina.
“But,
you’re not sleeping in the same tent with them, you’re not sharing the same
risks as them,” Father Lawrence said, “whereas in the army you get to
know them even before the deployment begins. You’re doing the same exercises
they’re doing, you’re going to PT with them, you’re getting to know them on a
much more personal level.
“You
have a shared experience and I would say that shared experience is amplified
when combat is involved.”
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Chaz Muth on Twitter: @Chazmaniandevyl.
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