Priests threatened with arrest for giving free serivce during GOV. shutdown

[Byron wilkins]

Priests threatened with arrest if they minister to military during shutdown In a stunning development, some military priests are facing arrest if they celebrate mass or practice their faith on military bases during  the federal government shutdown. “With the government shutdown, many [government service] and contract priests who minister to Catholics on military bases worldwide are not  permitted to work – not even to volunteer,” wrote John Schlageter, the  general counsel for the Archdiocese for the Military Services USA, in an op-ed this week. “During the shutdown, it is illegal for them to minister on  base and they risk being arrested if they attempt to do so.” According to its website, the Archdiocese for the Military Services “provides the Catholic  Church’s full range of pastoral ministries and spiritual services to  those in the United States Armed Forces.” In his piece, Schlageter worries about this restriction as Sunday  nears. “If the government shutdown continues through the weekend, there  will be no Catholic priest to celebrate Mass this Sunday in the chapels  at some U.S. military installations where non-active-duty priests serve  as government contractors,” he wrote. Because of the lack of active-duty Catholic chaplains, the military  relies on hiring civilian priests to serve as government service and  contract ministers. Those civilian priests are not allowed on the bases  during a shutdown, Schlageter wrote. One Republican lawmaker on the House Intelligence Committee told The  Daily Caller on Friday that this “crosses a constitutional line.” “The constitutional rights of those who put their lives on the line  for this nation do not end with a government slowdown,” Kansas Rep. Mike Pompeo, a graduate of West Point and an Army veteran, said in a Friday  statement. ”It is completely irresponsible for the president to turn his back on every American’s First Amendment rights by furloughing military contract clergy.” Added Pompeo: “The President’s strategy during the slowdown, just as  during the sequestration, is to create as much pain as possible.  However, this action crosses a constitutional line of obstructing every  U.S. service member’s ability to practice his or her religion.” http://dailycaller.com/2013/10/04/priests-threatened-with-arrest-if-they-minister-to-military-during-shutdown/