Governments vary widely on support of clergy and military chaplains

A dramatic American announcement becomes a global opportunity for fresh reporting

EDITOR’s NOTE: Sponsored by the Communications Committee of the International Association of Religion Journalists (IARJ), these columns are designed as brainstorming opportunities. To send us suggestions or responses, see the contact information below.

At the start of October, 2026, the hottest religion story in the United States is the decision by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to create an “Office of Religious Affairs” for U.S. armed forces that would increase the “spiritual health at the same level as physical health” for men and women under his command.

Here’s a report on that controversial announcement by our friends at Religion News Service, Yonat Shimron and Jack Jenkins, posted on October 1.

So far, details of what Hegseth is planning are sketchy, but this appears to be another attempt by Hegseth to stamp his brand of evangelical Christianity on U.S. armed forces. His announcement used phrases that are popular in his own more assertively nationalist branch of Christianity, including “putting on the full armor of God.”

This news also raises a major question about how Hegseth’s new Pentagon “Office” will relate to the Office of the Chief Chaplains, which was established by the U.S. Navy in 1917, followed by the Army in 1920. Military chaplaincy is a widely recognized profession, especially since its dramatic expansion during World War II. American military chaplains are coordinated through the well-established Armed Forces Chaplains Board.

American critics already are concerned that Hegseth has begun holding specifically Christian services at the Pentagon, and this new “Office” seems likely to refocus religious programs for U.S. service personnel on the Christian roots of chaplaincy. When journalists dig into the origins of the “chaplaincy” concept, they find that chaplains themselves point all the way back to the 4th Century Christian Saint Martin of Tours, a Roman officer who became a Christian bishop.

So, our October “IARJ Story Idea” for some fascinating religion reporting is to look into how chaplaincy corps are organized around the world. Hegseth has turned the question of religious bias in chaplaincy into a timely news story that likely will be major news over the next year as legal challenges in the U.S. unfold through the courts. There also are global implications in Hegseth’s apparent attempt to highlight some form of Christian mission in American military service around the world. Many nations already are wary of turning political and military conflicts into religious wars.

What will you find as you report on military chaplaincy?

First, the reporting will vary widely around the world.

For example, in Argentina, traditions associated with Catholic military chaplains stretch back to the early 1800s. However, just like the news story unfolding in the U.S., Argentina’s chaplaincy corps sparked controversy in the 1970s in a push-back over the power wielded by some Catholic officers. And, to this day, Argentina still has not formalized programs to serve non-Catholics. This is an active story in Argentina.

Second, reporters in many parts of the world will discover that these stories touch on much larger changes in relationships between governments and their nations’ clergy. Some of these formal relationships date back centuries—and have been changing in recent years. For example, Denmark still employs Lutheran clergy as civil servants as a long-standing cultural tradition, however, Iceland ended the civil service status of clergy in 2020.

This is not limited to “Christian” nations.

These news stories are not limited to Christian nations.

Most of Turkey’s imams are employed by the national office of the Presidency of Religious Affairs. What’s especially fascinating about this arrangement is that Turkey also has a history of dispatching some of its government-paid imams to other parts of the world to serve Muslim communities and maintain close ties to the homeland. So, a Turkish imam may be playing multiple roles in government and military service. Reporters will find that the 20th Century history of Turkish military chaplaincy changed dramatically in the 1920s, 1940s and 1960s, and has been changing again in recent decades.

Just as we are seeing emerge in the U.S., there is an ongoing push-and-pull on these relationships between clergy and the government in many nations. Greece, for example, traditionally employed clergy as civil servants, but a complex agreement between the government and the Orthodox church in 2020 changed that status for thousands of priests. This is an unfolding story in Greece.

In Sri Lanka, the relationship is more complex, because the Sri Lankan constitution declares that Buddhism will enjoy “the foremost place” and requires the state to “protect and foster the Buddha Sasana.” Perhaps surprisingly, given that mandate, Sri Lanka does not widely employ Buddhist monks, nor does it have a formal military chaplaincy corps. That’s because such systems would clash with Buddhist tradition, so other relationships have formed to encourage close ties between the military and Buddhist leaders. One example is that government military facilities typically have financed the construction and maintenance of an on-site Buddhist center, shrine or temple. Reporting on these complex relationships involving religious tradition, money, government power and national culture should produce stories of wide interest to readers around the world.

Wherever you are in the world, the controversial news of the American armed forces trying to emphasize a new kind of Christian “spirituality” is a global story. And you will find this is a great opportunity to report on the unfolding push-pull of these relationships in your own home country.

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Let’s make this as easy as possible: David Crumm, a veteran religion writer, magazine editor and publisher based in Michigan in the U.S., writes this column on behalf of the IARJ Communications Committee. If you’ve got further ideas to share about any item in this column, email David directly at david.crumm @ gmail.com

Or, if you’ve reported these kinds of stories, send David a link that we can include in a future column.

The IARJ is dedicated to assisting religion journalists around the world to help each other find ever more meaningful ways to report on the significant impact of religion in communities around the world.