Serve All Faiths Equally

The Rev. ( Lt. Cmdr. ) Ronald Stake rightly pointed out that the new rule by th e Roman Catholic Archdiocese for the Military Services limits the access that observant Roman Catholic service members have to communion. He goes on to say " Central Command requires each unit,afloat and on shore, to visited by both a Protestant and Roman Catholic chaplain at least once every two weeks so that service members will not be deprived of sacramental privileges. On the surface, this sounds great. we want to facilitate for the free exercise of religion and encourage our people to pursue spiritual fitness. Yet his words betray a larger issue. There are more than 100 Protestant communities represented in the Navy. many practice close communion that is, they can only celebrate communion with authorized clergy from their faith tradition. for example, sending a Methodist chaplain to a Missouri Synod Lutheran sailor does not satisfy his sacramental needs. Protestants have to settle for whatever chaplain comes their way on the two week rotation. That chaplain could be Mormon, Seventh-Day Adventist, Southern Baptist or a host of others. Protestant is not a denomination. Why should the policy favor the Roman Catholic tradition by ensuring that every Roman Catholic sailor can attend Mass every two weeks? To be fair, the policy should make the same provisions for all personnel.- Reserve Cmdr. John P. Perry - Orlando, Fla. -