Introduction

Printable Version

Army chaplains

My job as a padre - as the Army refers to its priests, chaplains and so on - is not to oil the wheels of war but to help the humanity caught up in it. We do wear fatigues, but the fact that we do not carry weapons is symbolic of our peaceful role.Clinton Langston, army chaplain

Royal Army Chaplains Department ©

The British army today has more chaplains on active service than at any time since World War II. Thanks to a recruiting drive launched by army, navy and air force in 2005, there are about 280 chaplains in the armed forces (2007 figures). Twelve chaplains serve the approximately 7000 British troops in Iraq.

No army chaplain is permitted to carry or use weapons.

The Royal Army Chaplains' Department is located in Upavon. The headquarters has been there since 1996. Chaplaincy training is conducted at The Armed Forces Chaplaincy Centre, near Andover.

All recruited chaplains in the British services are Christian (as of 2007), but the armed forces retain civilian chaplains to care for their Buddhist, Hindu, Sikh, Jewish and Muslim recruits.

The army and the armed forces are the ultimate place where you can make contact with people who would never come into church, in situations where they will accept you that maybe they wouldn't do in the world. What an opportunity!Nicola Thomas, Baptist army chaplain

Jesus went into some challenging places, some tough places, some places where actually he wasn't even wanted, but he went, and I want to follow that model. Definitely.Jonathan Daniel, Baptist army chaplain

I think it's human nature that you'd want someone to be looking over you and that you'd come home safe, and it does put your faith in a lot of question. Do you truly believe in God and is God looking over you; and you want to come home safe, so I think selfishly a lot of people do.Sgt Jason Brown, worshipper

The U.S. armed forces have 1400 chaplains, all Christian except for about 30 rabbis and 15 imams (2003 figures).

A changing role

The nature of the army is changing. Soldiers no longer remain on army bases when not on active service. A job in the armed forces is becoming closer to a regular weekday nine-to-five. Consequently, with fewer soldiers on base at weekends, congregations at army chapels are low to nonexistent.

The nature of warfare has also changed drastically - including the certainty that the war's cause is just and well supported at home. Today's wars may not be about religion, but in Iraq and Afghanistan there's an element of religion in them.

It is not surprising, then, that the role of army chaplains - padres - has changed as well. Far from "building up the indomitable spirit of the army" (as Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig said in 1919), chaplains now see their role as one of support and guidance for the troops - whether or not the chaplain, or their church, believes the war is morally right.