Editor’s Note: In honor of Veterans Day, the Catholic Transcript is honoring all of the military chaplains and veterans in the Archdiocese of Hartford. Father Lee Hellwig, who is currently serving as a parochial vicar at the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Waterbury, served as a military chaplain in the U.S Navy from 1998-2013. Below, he shares the challenges and joys of bringing God to service men and women.
By Father Lee Hellwig
I had always thought about military service even before ordination. I became interested in the Navy because its mission requires members to be long periods away from usual religious worship opportunities when they are assigned aboard ship or overseas. As a U.S. Navy Chaplain I was able to provide the sacraments to Catholic members as well as supply the worship resources for other faith groups, while caring for all the members of the command to which I was assigned at a time when sailors were away from family and their usual support mechanisms.
The average age in the Navy was fairly young. Sailors were at the point in their lives of finding themselves and becoming the people they were meant to be. In addition to religious support the Chaplain provided guidance and counseling in areas of personal as well as professional growth.
In order to serve in the Navy, the Archbishop of Hartford released me to the Archbishop for the Military Services, who is responsible for the U.S. Military. The Archbishop for the Military Services was then my religious superior for the period that I was in the Navy.
In the course of my Navy chaplaincy I served aboard two aircraft carriers, an amphibious assault ship, and a naval hospital. I served at a Marine Corps base, a Coast Guard base in Alaska, and at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Personal challenges related to those many years at sea aboard a ship and at assignments, which kept me away from home and family in Connecticut. In each of these assignments my purpose was to be a Catholic priest and provide the sacraments to Catholic military members in order that they could successfully fulfill their duties aboard ship or away from home. I was never personally in harm’s way.
As a Navy Chaplain I was chaplain to everyone in the particular command to which I was assigned, which included their families. Families were frequently worried about the safety and welfare of their military member as well as concerned about how to keep the household and family going when the member was away. The chaplain would be available to them for religious and pastoral support.
I was the unique element in most of my assignments because I was the only Catholic priest and the sole source for Catholic members to receive the sacraments, while serving in the Navy and fulfilling their duties aboard ship or in a location some distance from civilian churches. A unique aspect of Navy chaplaincy is that those members who speak with a chaplain enjoy complete confidentiality no matter what they communicate to the chaplain. Many navy members would take advantage of this “privileged communication” to share with the chaplain many issues and very private and intimate concerns as they try to work through them.
The Navy chaplain provides a ready counseling resource for military members because the member’s communication with the chaplain is privileged and may not be revealed by the chaplain to anyone for any reason according to military law. Therefore, military members freely talk with the chaplain about a wide range of personal and professional concerns. I found that my counseling load was much higher than it has been in any of my parish assignments.
I was always treated with respect as a religious professional by military members at all levels and ranks. My military superiors were always supportive of my ministry and let me do my job and never second-guessed what I did in the provision of pastoral and religious support to military members and their families. There was also a level of trust that military members offered the chaplain, recognizing that he was there to provide for their religious needs. They were aware that without him, they would have a lesser quality of life because they would not be able to practice their faith and there would be no one else concerned about their religious needs. There was joy in being in a unique position to provide for those religious needs and to provide the sacraments to Catholics.
I returned to archdiocese because of the great need here for priests in parish work, providing for the sacramental and pastoral needs of our own people.