Report: Biden’s Defense Department Sent Cease and Desist Letter to Catholic Church Providing Pastoral Care to Veterans During Holy Week

April 11, 2023
The Archdiocese for the Military Services issued a statement indicating the Catholic college providing pastoral care to service members and veterans at Walter Reed Medical Center for the past two decades had been issued a "cease and desist" letter during Holy Week.
Screenshot: PBS NewsHour YouTube Channel

The Archdiocese for the Military Services issued a statement indicating the Catholic college providing pastoral care to service members and veterans at Walter Reed Medical Center for the past two decades had been issued a “cease and desist” letter by the Biden administration during Holy Week.

The government’s cease and desist order directed the Catholic priests to immediately discontinue any religious services at Walter Reed.

The contract with the friary, Holy Name College, had been terminated on March 31st, and enforced through the letter during a week in which Catholics celebrate the Resurrection.

The contract was instead awarded to a secular defense contracting firm.

Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio issued a statement blasting the move as a violation of the First Amendment and accused the Defense Health Agency -under the Department of Defense – of taking away adequate pastoral care for service members and veterans during a vital time on the Catholic calendar.

“It is incomprehensible that essential pastoral care is taken away from the sick and the aged when it was so readily available,” Broglio said. “This is a classic case where the adage ‘if it is not broken, do not fix it’ applies.”

He added that “I earnestly hope that this disdain for the sick will be remedied at once and their First Amendment rights will be respected.”

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Violation of the First Amendment

White House National Security spokesman John Kirby was asked about the Biden administration’s ‘cease and desist’ order against the Catholic college but declined to comment.

“I’m afraid I’m not (familiar with the story) and even if I was, really this is a better question for the Department of Defense,” he told reporters.

In a statement to the Catholic News Agency over the weekend, Walter Reed insisted the pastoral care contract was simply “under review” as a means “to ensure it adequately supports the religious needs of our patients and beneficiaries.”

A legal representative for the Archdiocese for the Military Services had reportedly requested the contract be extended at least through the Easter holy day.

They claim Walter Reed did not respond to the requests.

“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,” the Archdiocese stated.

They claim the “refusal to provide adequate pastoral care while awarding a contract for Catholic ministry to a for-profit company that has no way of providing Catholic priests to the medical center is a glaring violation of service members’ and veterans’ Right to the Free Exercise of Religion.”

“Especially, during Holy Week, the lack of adequate Catholic pastoral care causes untold and irreparable harm to Catholics who are hospitalized,” they declared.

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Biden’s War on the Catholic Church

To the casual outside observer, this latest seemingly petty move is a continuation of the Biden administration’s active war against the Catholic Church.

Earlier this year, the Department of Justice continued its dogged pursuit of pro-life activists following the Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, indicting eight people on charges they violated the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE) at a pair of Michigan abortion clinics in 2020.

The Political Insider reported in October that the DOJ was attacking pro-life Americans, charging 11 activists at that time with violations of the Act for blocking the entrance of an abortion clinic in 2021.

By contrast, President Biden’s DOJ has taken no action against leftists who have fire-bombed multiple crisis pregnancy centers. Centers that have been consistent targets of attacks across the country.

In January, a federal jury acquitted pro-life protestor Mark Houck of federal charges alleging he had pushed an abortion clinic escort in Philadelphia.

Houck’s charges similarly fell under the FACE Act. Local prosecutors had declined to pursue the case, but the feds took over and sent a team of armed FBI agents to his home, arresting him in front of his wife and children.

The Political Insider also reported that the DOJ and FBI, according to a leaked memo, had been warning that “radical traditionalist” Catholics pose an extremist threat to the nation.

“The government has a constitutional duty to provide for and protect” the religious rights of service members and veterans, the Archdiocese for the Military Services explains.

As per usual in the Biden era, the government doesn’t seem to give a damn about their constitutional duty or the rights of Americans.

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By Rusty Weiss

Rusty Weiss has been covering politics for over 15 years. His writings have appeared in the Daily Caller, Fox... More about Rusty Weiss

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