By Robert R. Schwarz
( last of two parts )
[ additional note to author: this same post als0 appears earlier in this list later with the title: " The War
Against Moral Wounds " ]
( Note: This interview was posted originally
on Oct. 27, 2013 , a few months after
his arrival at St. James. )
his arrival at St. James. )
The priest is a man anointed by tradition to shed blood , not as soldier, through courage, not as the magistrate, through justice, but as Jesus Christ , through love. The priest is a man of
sacrifice; by it, each day , reconciling heaven and earth , and by it, each
day, announcing to every soul the
primordial truths of life , of death,
and of resurrection.... Fr. Henri-Dominique, O.P. , (
died 1861),
French preacher and journalist who re-established the
Dominican order in post-Revolutionary France
It's 48 degrees on
this November night in northeastern
Pakistan . Patches of snow on the 4,800-foot mountain tops have survived the 100 degree-plus heat from last
August . This is a war zone at the
Bagram Airfield, the largest U.S. military base in this country. Weekly deaths from Taliban rockets, road
mines, mortars , small arms fire , and suicide attacks of terrorists have been common since the 1980's Soviet war
in Afghanistan and since the
U.S.-led invasion in late 2001.
A few minutes
before 9 p.m. , both enlisted men and
women and officers of our Army and
Airforce begin entering a large conference room in an undisclosed location .
Among them is a two-star general, Jim C.
McConville, commander of this region. There are about 30 soldiers and airmen; a few might have
had dinner a few hours ago either in a Burger King, Popeye's, Pizza Hut,
or Subway . The base can house at least 10,000 military personnel.
In a minute, a Catholic mass will be celebrated by Captain Fr. Matt Foley, a chaplain ( one of 16
priests in this country ) now in his fourth deployment and soon to go stateside as pastor of the St. James Catholic
Church in Arlington Heights, Illinois.
The worshippers, including
Gen. McConville, take seats at one large
table and wait for Fr. Foley . No one
knows when and where the next rocket
will hit or if a Taliban suicide bomber at this moment is trying to breech security …
 |
| An American soldier during prayers at Bagram ( photo by John Moore / Getty Images ) |
"It was beautiful ," is how Fr. Matt remembered any of the five masses he normally celebrated
on weekends at Bagram. " We would have singing and great prayer, " he added during my
recent interview with him.
…The mass continues
on schedule . The men sing "Amazing Grace " , then receive the blessing by Fr. Foley , who wears a
traditional Catholic vestment. Any of
the world's estimated ( in a 2010 survey of the
Pew Research Center ) 1.2 billion Catholics , including the two-star general sitting here, know what words come next—"I confess to almighty God…". Then their
faith's kyrie and Gloria, followed by the opening prayer . This mass , largely for the benefit for those
on 24-hour shifts, is Bagram's "Sunday " mass " and will last half the usual 60 minutes…
" We were obviously aware that there
was a general among us," Fr. Matt said, "but he didn't draw any attention to himself. He was just going to mass. "
Gen. McConville is Catholic and
hails from Quincy , Massachusetts.
After graduating from West Point in 1981, he earned a degree in
aerospace engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology and in 2002 he was a
National Security Fellow at Harvard
University. "He's a very humble guy , " Fr. Matt said . " Senior officers and senior NCOs (sergeant
majors and warrant officers ) have great influence on the younger soldiers,
" Fr. Matt said. He
related the time he brought a PFC and a captain to mass. " They were very inspired by the fact
that general was there. It was wonderful to see that influence. "
… Now comes the Liturgy of the Word, the same being read
on this day in most Catholic churches around the world. The lector reads a passage from the Old Testament, then one
from the New Testament. Both the lector,
altar server and members of the military choir are wearing combat-ready gear. Fr.
Matt rises from a folding
chair , proclaims the Gospel
message, and begins his homily. He is not unaware that each man facing him
wears a .45 Colt automatic , if an officer, or has at his side an
M4 rifle, if a lower ranked enlisted man or woman…
" Bad and Good People
Die "
His homilies at Bagram , said the St. James
pastor, " try to integrate the
liturgy with what we were dealing with in our everyday existence in
Afghanistan. " Asked if his
homilies ever talked about death or killing the enemy, he pondered the question
before replying: "I didn't go into
a lot of a ' just war theory that [ Saint ]
Augustine would talk about. "
He mentioned a captain at Bagram
whom Fr. Foley first met when celebrating mass at Camp McCoy in North Carolina
while this captain was in special
forces ( Green Beret ) training. The
captain was later shot and killed at an outlying forward
operating base ( FOB ) by a Taliban infiltrator. " That was a very
sad day," Fr. Matt recalled. "He was a West Point grad, a Catholic,
an outstanding soldier and loved my many. This was evil, and bad and good people die, just like the
sun rises and sets on the good and bad alike. "
 |
| A wounded soldier at the hospital at Bagram plays his guitar for a wounded comrade ( AP Photo / Rafiq Maqabool ) |
Did he hate the enemy ? "
No, " he quickly said . "I don't like
evil. I don’t like those who perpetrate it. But I'm not one to cast into
Hell all the evil spirits. That's up to Jesus.
" To deal more effectively
with the religious faith of Islam that
motivates Afghan terrorists to
kill innocent people, Fr. Foley and
his commander , a lieutenant colonel, went regularly during Fr. Foley's prior
deployments to regional villages and meet
with Islamic leaders .
He
remained reserved with any opinion about
the Islamic faith . " There are
extremists in any faith …I believe that religions get abused by political
agendas. People, including Americans, he
thought, confuse their religious faith
with their political agenda .
Our
conversation turned to conversions to the Christian faith at Bagram. Yes, he said,
there were conversions ; some men became Catholic , like an officer in
his 30s, a non-denominational Christian
who told Fr. Foley he had been drawn to the Catholic faith throughout his life . As he and Fr. Foley took a walk,
the officer said he had been looking for more depth to his faith, a better
understanding of Holy Scripture, and a closer relationship with Jesus. Soon after that walk, the officer made a
profession of faith to Fr. Matt. Some
soldiers were baptized while Fr. Foley was there.
The " ministry of presence
" is taken seriously by military chaplains . "You go
where your soldiers are, " Fr. Matt explained. " They like to
see their chaplain. You have an influence on morale also moral behavior. "
How did he as a chaplain react
when he was in earshot of profanity or a
dirty joke ? " If they saw
me then, they usually apologized and were very respectful. Some of that respect might have been influenced because I was older
than the other chaplains [ he is 50 ] and because many knew of my past
experience as a pastor in Chicago. "
Neither
drinking nor drugs, of course, were allowed on base, and there were no
traditional military weekend passes , no R & R for the G.I.s to go into town and let off some steam. " Nothing like that, " the chaplain
said. Fr. Matt's last deployment was
for nine months—without any leave—though the men on their first deployment get
a home
leave. " That's why you
lift a lot of weights and run and read books , " the priest said grinning about
his two favorite pastimes.
 |
| Gen. Jim McConville, Fr. Foley's commander |
As Fr. Matt and the altar server prepare for the communion rite, some men and women in this room are likely wondering about tomorrow, when the first helicopter
will come in carrying the wounded
from somewhere within this bomb- and
rocket-scarred warzone that extends 60
miles in all directions…
Fr. Matt described that scene:
" There are a lot of moving parts, and you watch not to get in the way. If
they are Catholic, you pray, you anoint them and they are off to the operating
room . Everyone is trying to do their
best. You know exactly what your role is . There' s no time to get overwhelmed. " Many of the wounded as they are
carried by Fr.Matt, ask him when they'll
be able to return to their unit. His experience as a
parish priest on the southwest side of Chicago who ministered to youth gangs and made several trips
to hospital emergency rooms had prepared Fr. Matt for the worst scenario.
That same day he visits the base mortuary
to bless bodies. As he looks at the
bodies he is disturbed
most by "the evil of violence that has been perpetrated upon them.
" Later he blesses another body in a
" ramp ceremony" as the
fallen soldier or airman is being loaded onto a plane. Another plane is standing by to fly the stabilized wounded to a military hospital in Germany...
Prayers and Fear
 |
| Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan |
I
asked Fr. Matt if he had a special prayer for himself, especially when he was alone. " I echo the words of Jesus
at His cross : ' Into your hands I
commend my spirit. ' I find comfort in
that ."
Was Fr. Matt ever fearful while in this 24-7 warzone ? " There are
times when people shoot at you and you'd better be scared—'cause it helps you
move a little bit faster. Anytime people
are surprising you [ with an attack ] your adrenaline rush goes from zero to one hundred. When you hear rockets
overhead, it's pretty disconcerting.
"
Reminded of news reports about the high suicide rate among
the military , Fr. Matt said : " The army takes better statistics than the
public. I don't think we have any higher
rate of suicide than the public. We try
much in preventative care and mental health and in knowing the signs [ of suicidal tendencies ] . " Everyone throughout the military, he explained, is
required to carry an ACE card, which
reminds them to ask, care, and escort the troubled G.I. to
some place for help.
 |
| Fr. Foley: chaplain and U.S. Army captain |
One
by one now, the men come up to the altar and take the host—the " Body of
Christ"— from Fr. Matt and then turn to a comrade holding the cup of wine—the " Blood of Christ"—
and sip from it. Then each returns to his or her chair and makes the sign of the cross with Fr. Matt. As mass
ends with voices singing
"On Eagle's Wings," Fr. Matt can't help thinking about whom
among these worshippers he has blessed tonight might not be alive at the next mass. Before leaving "church" tonight, he will likely
pray—if he hasn't already—the prayer of the Airborne archangel, St. Michael:
defend us in battle.
Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray,
and do thou,
O Prince of the heavenly hosts,
by the power of God,
thrust into hell Satan,
and all the evil spirits,
who prowl about the world
seeking the ruin of souls. Amen..
THE END
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©
2013, 2014 Robert R. Schwarz
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