Walter Reed reviewing disputed Catholic chaplaincy contract, medical center says

Officials at the Pentagon’s Defense Health Agency may be looking for a way out of a planned contract for Catholic chaplaincy services for Walter Reed National Military Medical Center after it drew fire from congressional Republicans on Tuesday.

Just before Catholics marked Holy Week in the run-up to Easter Sunday, the agency sent a “cease and desist” letter to the Franciscan Friars at Holy Name College Friary in Silver Spring, ejecting them after a 20-year relationship at the famed military health center.

The agency said it had awarded the chaplaincy services contract instead to Mack Global, LLC, a private contractor that its critics say cannot provide such services because priests serving as chaplains must work for a bishop and not a private company.

Late Tuesday as the uproar grew, Walter Reed officials said in a statement that the contract “is under review to ensure it adequately supports the religious needs of our patients and beneficiaries.”

Rick McNamara, public affairs officer at Walter Reed, said in a telephone interview that if Mack Global, a Richmond-based professional services contractor, cannot fulfill the contract’s terms, it would go back to the Defense Health Agency’s contracting office either to be rebid or awarded to the second-place finalist.

Mr. McNamara said he did not know who that runner-up bidder was.

Mack says on its website that its main business lines serving its government and private-sector clients include “telework consulting services, administrative and religious staffing, transportation and roadway services, [and] professional development and training.”

The March 31 breakup with the Franciscans alarmed Sen. Marco Rubio, Florida Republican, who with 10 Senate and House GOP colleagues sent a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. In questioning the decision to kill the contract, they alleged that gender transition surgery for minors was a greater priority for DHA than was providing Roman Catholic service members appropriate pastoral care at Walter Reed.

“DHA doctors are advocating for minors to receive experimental gender transition procedures, but no one seems to be advocating for the right of our service members and veterans to receive the most important sacraments during this most sacred time of year,” the letter said.

Republican lawmakers signing the letter included Sens. Roger Marshall and Jerry Moran of Kansas and James Lankford of Oklahoma; and House Republican Reps. Doug Lamborn of Colorado; Michael Waltz, Cory Mills and Carlos Gimenez of Florida; Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin; Jim Banks of Indiana and Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Iowa.

“Actions to deny Catholic Pastoral Care from service members and veterans at Walter Reed [go] against the morals, way of life, and rights that make up the fabric of our great nation,” the congressional letter said. The new contract “was awarded to a for-profit secular defense contracting firm that … has no way of providing Catholic priests” to the facility.

Contacted by a reporter on Monday, Robin Mack, Mack Global’s CEO, said, “We’re still in the process of getting all that worked out” when asked how they will supply Catholic priests for the facility.

Pastoral care

The Rubio-led letter asks Mr. Austin to detail the “factors” that led to the decision to drop the Franciscans “after two decades of providing consistent pastoral care.” They also want to know how many Catholic priests are “currently available” at the facility, “how much longer the current active-duty priest” will be there, and sought details of the pastoral care provided during Holy Week.

A spokesperson for Mr. Austin said via email that answers would be provided to Mr. Rubio and the other signers of the letter and not the media.

According to Catholic teaching, most of the sacraments, including Communion and Confession, can only be performed by a validly ordained priest.

In its Tuesday evening statement on the matter, the medical center insisted it “is a welcoming and healing environment that honors and supports a full range of religious, spiritual and cultural needs.”

The center said it can provide Catholic religious services without a contract, and “can leverage Catholic priests assigned to other Defense [Department] organizations within the region.” They said three additional priests in the area “are available to provide services” to Catholics at Walter Reed.

The facility has 244 inpatient beds and handled 7,400 patient admissions in 2022, Mr. McNamara said. There are also 7,100 staff personnel at Walter Reed both for its hospital and the numerous clinics at the facility, all of whom can also access chaplaincy services if desired.

The Holy Name Friars said the abrupt termination of their relationship with DHA was “certainly disappointing … after building trust and so many wonderful relationships and friendships,” but they “respect the process” of awarding contracts.

“It has been an incredible privilege — and, really, a very powerful ministerial experience — for the Franciscan Friars to be invited into the lives of these true American heroes who have sacrificed so much for our country,” the friars said.

The Most Rev. Timothy P. Broglio, Archbishop for the Military Services, was less conciliatory in a statement released last weekend, calling it 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,” Rev. Broglio wrote. “I earnestly hope that this disdain for the sick will be remedied at once and their First Amendment rights will be respected.”

The Archdiocese for the Military Services said in the statement that the timing of the contract cancellation was particularly insensitive. coming right before one of the holiest periods on the liturgical calendar: “While Walter Reed’s chaplain office claims Catholic care is being provided during Holy Week, the AMS maintains that without Catholic priests present at the medical center, service members and veterans are being denied the constitutional right to practice their religion.”