Catholic Military Ordinariate of Australia


The Catholic Military Ordinariate of Australia, is a Latin Church suffragan military ordinariate of the Roman Catholic Church immediately subject to the Holy See. It was established in 1969 and managed for administrative purposes by the Archdiocese of Sydney.
Its ordinary and his chaplains serve the members of the Australian Defence Force and their families in all three services; the Royal Australian Navy, the Australian Army and the Royal Australian Air Force regardless of location.

History

Catholic chaplaincy has been provided for Australians serving in the military since the 1901 contribution of forces to fight in the Boxer Rebellion. However, it was not until 1912 that a bishop, Thomas Carr, the then Archbishop of Melbourne, was delegated by the Catholic bishops of Australia as the bishop of the Australian Armed Forces.
From 1912 until 1969, Catholic armed servicemen and women were in the care of a bishop delegated to them who was also a bishop elsewhere. In 1969, Pope Paul VI created the Military Vicariate of Australia. In 1984, Pope John Paul II elevated the vicariate to a military ordinariate with its own bishop. The diocese was officially established under an apostolic constitution, Spirituali Militum Curae, on 21 July 1986 and given final approval in 1988.

Structure

Although the headquarters of the diocese is located in Campbell, Australian Capital Territory, the diocese is attached to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney, while being immediately subject to the Holy See. Unlike conventional dioceses, which are restricted to a geographical area, the Catholic Diocese of the ADF covers all of Australia and its 30 Defence bases, and any Australian military facilities or units overseas or off-shore.

Bishop

The Catholic Bishop of the ADF is usually a member of the ADF's Religious Advisory Committee to the Services, and holds status equivalent to a two-star officer. Currently the Vicar General is the Catholic RACS member.RACS advises the Federal Minister of Defence, the Chief of the Defence Force and the three chiefs of the services on matters pertaining to religion, worship and chaplaincy. The Catholic bishop is the head of the Catholic denomination recognised in the Defence Instructions of the ADF.
The following individuals have been elected as Bishop of the Armed Services:

Principal Chaplains

Army and Air Force have three Principal Chaplains; one each to represent Catholicism, Anglicanism and ProtestantismIn January 2018, the Australian Navy removed the requirement to have three Principal Chaplains. They are accorded the rank relevant to the [|Division Five chaplain] for each branch. Principal Chaplains oversee the chaplains of their particular Service, managing matters such as recruitment, postings, deployments, promotions, welfare and discipline.
Catholic priests who are promoted to Principal Chaplains of the ADF are traditionally nominated for and receive the title "Monsignor" from the Pope. The current Catholic Principal Chaplains of the ADF are: Air Force - Monsignor Peter O'Keefe AM VG EV ; Navy - Monsignor Stuart Hall, RAN ; Army - Monsignor Glynn Murphy OAM. Currently all Catholic Principal Chaplains are in the Reserve Forces.

Chaplains

Chaplains are charged with the responsibility to care for the religious, spiritual and pastoral needs of Defence members and their families. For Catholic chaplains, this includes providing the sacraments, especially to Defence members isolated from civilian Catholic churches/parishes or on war operations. Chaplains, especially those appointed to training establishments, conduct classes on ethics, morals, values and character development with their military units. Chaplains in the Navy, Army and Air Force undergo the same training as other ADF officers.
With only a few exceptions, ordained Catholic chaplains are "on loan" to the Military Diocese from a "civilian" diocese for an agreed period of time, which may or may not be renewed. The Bishop of the Military relies on the other Australian bishops for the supply of enough clergy to meet the chaplaincy needs of Catholics in the ADF. It is possible for a priest or deacon to be ordained solely into the Defence Diocese/Military Ordinariate and thus he fully belongs to the Military Diocese for life. The Archdiocese of Melbourne currently supplies more full-time priests than any other diocese to the Australian Defence Diocese.
ADF chaplains are generally addressed by their first name by Officers of equal or superior rank or as "Sir" by those of lower ranks, however Catholic chaplains are often referred to as "Father" or as "Padre" by soldiers, sailors, and RAAF personnel irrespective of their rank.

Divisions

Chaplains in the ADF are organised into five divisions:
DivisionArmyRANRAAFNATO rank codeChaplain Title
1Captain CommanderFlight LieutenantOF-2Chaplain
2MajorCommanderSquadron LeaderOF-3Chaplain
3Lieutenant ColonelCommanderWing CommanderOF-4Senior Chaplain
4ColonelCaptainGroup CaptainOF-5Senior Chaplain
5BrigadierCommodoreAir CommodoreOF-6Principal Chaplain

Current Chaplains

In 2019, there are 9 full-time priests, 4 full-time married deacons, 3 full-time married non-ordained pastoral associates and 2 full-time, non-ordained, non-married Chaplains serving as Commissioned chaplains in the ADF. There were 25,614 Roman Catholics in the ADF out of a total of 102,764. Although Catholics constitute the largest religious group in the ADF, the diocese struggles to recruit enough chaplains to serve the Catholic defence population.
2019 ADF Chaplains:
;Navy
;Army
;Air Force
; Reserve Chaplains
There are a small number of Reserve Defence Force chaplains who are mostly full-time parish priests in civilian parishes or married deacons ministering full-time in their dioceses. In 2019 these included: Navy - Fr Patrick Sykes, Fr Paul Raj, Fr Thi Lam ; Air Force- Fr John Healy.

Noncombatant status

Chapels

The Catholic Church has many chapels located on Defence Force establishments, primarily but not exclusively for the use of Catholic personnel. Some chapels are "non-denominational" and are shared with other Christian denominations.