The Walter Reed National Military Medical Center has cut ties with the community of Catholic priests that have administered religious rights to service members and veterans at the hospital for two decades.
Walter Reed Medical Center, one of the most prominent military hospitals in the U.S., issued a cease and desist letter on March 31, informing the Franciscan priests and brothers of the nearby Holy Name College Friary that they must stop their religious services for service members and veterans at the hospital.
The Catholic Archdiocese for the Military Services condemned the cease and desist notice, which they said violates the First Amendment right to the free exercise of one’s religion. Specifically, the archdiocese said the move leaves Catholic service members and veterans at the hospital without access to adequate pastoral care.
The archdiocese said Walter Reed Medical Center has awarded a pastoral care contract to a secular defense contracting firm.
“Our understanding is that the Franciscans were underbid by the secular defense contracting firm who was awarded the contract,” Elizabeth A. Tomlin, the general counsel for the Military Archdiocese, told NTD News.
Tomlin explained that while the secular firm had the more competitive bid, they lacked the most simple qualification to fulfill the contract: having ordained priests who could perform specific Catholic religious rites, like the sacrament and confession.
“It is incomprehensible that essential pastoral care is taken away from the sick and the aged when it was so readily available,” said Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Military Archdiocese.
“This is a classic case where the adage ‘if it is not broken, do not fix it’ applies. I fear that giving a contract to the lowest bidder overlooked the fact that the bidder cannot provide the necessary service,” Broglio added.
Though the secular firm had underbid the Franciscans of the Holy Name College, Tomlin explained that the otherwise unqualified secular firm planned to overcome its lack of qualified priests by subcontracting out to the very same Franciscan priests and brothers they had underbid in the first place.
“What they’ve tried to do is now subcontract the friars for 30 percent of their award, so basically, the contractor wants to keep two-thirds and then just hire the Franciscans for one third, which would put the Franciscans making just above minimum wage per mass, and it’s just not possible,” Tomlin said. “Moreover, a secular defense contracting firm, cannot supervise the ministerial work of a Catholic priest under canon law.”
Move Came Right Before Easter
Worsening the situation for Catholic service members, the Walter Reed Medical Center made its contracting decision just before Holy Week, the most sacred week in Christianity ahead of the Easter holiday.
Tomlin contacted the Walter Reed Medical Center’s contracting officials at multiple points during Holy Week, but she said her emails and voicemails went unanswered, and a contracting official only ever responded by text, asking to discuss the issue the next day but wouldn’t schedule a specific time to talk.
The archdiocese explained that Walter Reed Medical Center has one Catholic Army chaplain on hand, but he is in the process of separating from the Army, leaving the military hospital without a qualified priest to fulfill religious rites in accordance with the requirements of the Catholic faith. Tomlin said this Army chaplain was able to fulfill Catholic masses throughout Holy Week but could not feasibly handle all of the pastoral care needs for individual Catholic service members and veterans at the hospital.
Tomlin said it would have been feasible to do a “pen and ink” change to the contract terms, to allow the Franciscans to continue to provide pastoral care through Holy Week, but she said the Walter Reed Medical Center’s contracting officials never made that effort.
What Happens Now
It remains to be seen how Walter Reed Medical Center will address pastoral care needs for Catholic service members and veterans.
NTD News reached out to the Walter Reed Medical Center and the Department of Defense for comment on this issue, but neither responded before this article was published.
“I earnestly hope that this disdain for the sick will be remedied at once and their First Amendment rights will be respected,” Broglio said of the situation.
