Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, has quietly canceled its contract with Catholic priests to offer pastoral services to veterans and has replaced the priests with a secular organization after working with Catholic priests for 20 years.
In yet another example of President Joe Biden’s and the left’s war against Christians, Walter Reed abruptly sent a cease and desist letter to Holy Name College Friary, a Franciscan group that has served at the hospital for nearly two decades, Fox News reported.
Worse, the cancellation of the contract came on March 31, only days before Easter week began, one of Christianity’s most holy periods.
Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, the head of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, blasted the hospital’s move in a statement published on Good Friday and insisted that the secular group Walter Reed is planning to employ is unable to offer the adequate care the veterans need.
The archbishop’s statement added that the hospital “awarded to a secular defense contracting firm that cannot fulfill the statement of work in the contract. As a result, adequate pastoral care is not available for service members and veterans in the United States’ largest Defense Health Agency medical center either during Holy Week or beyond.”
As a veteran, I’m thrilled about this change. I’m not Catholic and don’t want Catholic pastoral care. Spiritual care needs to be provided to everyone, not just Catholics or Christians.
Pastoral care of all flavors has always been available at WRAMC and NNMC.