WASHINGTON — In the wake of the June 26 U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning part of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, the Obama administration has moved swiftly to provide spousal benefits for servicemen and servicewomen in legal same-sex “marriages,” including housing subsidies, health-care coverage and separation pay.

The expanded benefits and the recent practice of some military chaplains presiding at the weddings of same-sex couples have raised questions about the right of Catholic chaplains and lay commanders to refuse to participate in programs and rituals or facilitate benefits that appear to challenge Church teaching on marriage and sexual ethics.

On Sept. 17, Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services (AMS) issued a statement providing formal guidance for Catholic chaplains, lay ministers and commanders. On Sept. 19, Archbishop Broglio discussed the shifting context and concerns that prompted military commanders to request a clear response from the archdiocese with Register senior editor Joan Frawley Desmond.

 

On Sept. 17, you issued a letter providing guidance for those “who may encounter ministry situations involving Catholic or non-Catholic parties in same-gender ‘marital’ relationships.” The letter suggests there is an urgent need for Catholics in the military to receive clear guidance from the AMS.

I am getting lots of questions. There is a general desire on the part of chaplains to have a clear statement as to what the Church position is regarding this question. Chaplains and their superiors want to know exactly what the Church teaches.

The chain of command had also asked chaplains for this information.

 

You state that no “Catholic priest or deacon may be forced by any authority to witness or bless the union of couples of the same gender,” nor can they be required to participate in marriage-related retreats or counseling that involve same-sex couples.

This is the first time we have really had to address with specifically in the military where this kind of union would be recognized. This is the first time I had put this down in black and white.

But I was also very careful to say that if a couple of the same sex were two Catholics, a Catholic chaplain would have to meet with them and try and help them embrace the teaching of the Church.

 

You offer guidance for lay Catholic commanders, whose obligations may include the provision of spousal benefits. You cite the National Catholic Bioethics Center’s guidance in response to your question about a “person’s possible cooperation with evil.” What kind of challenge could arise for a Catholic commander?

Housing is one issue. Military people get housing benefits. If someone is “married,” in the broadest of understanding of that term, he or she can obtain that [housing stipend] for a married couple, which is more than if you are single.

So if a commander is presented with a situation where the couple is in a same-gendered union, he would be obliged to extend that benefit to the couple.

He was not obliged to do this before, and he does not have much choice about complying with the law.

But he should make clear that he is engaged in remote cooperation under duress, because he has no other choice — unless he wants to leave the military.

The National Catholic Bioethics Center advised us that commanders “would not be engaging in morally illicit cooperation, but, rather, tolerable remote mediate material cooperation with evil by implementing federal employee benefits accruing pursuant to same-sex "marriage.”

The center said that its determination was “contingent on the situations in which commanders are unable to avoid such cooperation without jeopardizing their own just right to their employment security for themselves and/or their families.”

 

The NCBC further noted that its judgment was “contingent on the commander making known his/her objection” and “attempting through legal channels to continue to accomplish changes in policy consistent with the historic understanding of marriage and family.” Could such efforts result in penalties?

They certainly could. That is the way the military operates. We have already had someone set aside from a position because he expressed his belief that marriage is only between a man and a woman. I only know of one concrete instance where this happened, but if it happened once, it probably happened more than once.

 

Your letter noted the passage of a House bill that would provide religious-freedom protections for Catholic chaplains and others. However, the White House has argued that the measure is not necessary. What is your response?

The military is being forced to implement these things, and the speed with which these changes are made is incredible. That is an attempt by the administration to exert its power where it can.