The Act & the Word

The question popped up again & again: "Is it true that the Roman Catholic chaplains were better men and did a better job in the service than Protestants?" In last week's Christian Century, ex-Navy Chaplain John Ruskin Clark, who served with the Marines, gave an answer that underscored a long-term Protestant problem--for peace as well as war. Excerpts:

". . . The reason Protestant chaplains received less recognition is a clue to the reason Protestant churches as a whole make less impression on the channels of public persuasion. . . .

"It was not the quality of the men who wore the crosses, nor was it solely the amount of money spent in an organized publicity campaign. . . . The Protestant chaplain received less recognition than the Catholic because of the radically different resources with which he worked. The disparity was only more obvious in the service, where the contrasting disciplines were juxtaposed in trying conditions, than it is in civilian life, where we pursue our independent ways. . . .

"There are moments of anxiety when the act is more significant than the word in giving emotional assurance. In the early days of the Okinawa campaign, when our regiment was sweeping through enemy-infested territory, the Catholic chaplain and I visited one of our companies in biivouac. I roamed through the area, greeting and chatting with men.. . The priest, however, was soon surrounded in the conspicuous center of the encampment by kneeling men 'going to confession' and receiving the 'consolation of the holy sacrament.' Something was obviously going on which was meaningful to the Catholics, and impressive to the non-churched as well as to the Catholics."

A Want of Drama. "To combat photographers, that was the sort of dramatic scene that makes a good news picture. News photos show the dramatic, and there is little of the dramatic in Protestant practice. . . .

"... I had no religious ministrations that I could confidently use to ease the emotional tension of the Protestant wounded. The priest, on the other hand, administered the appropriate rite to all Catholic wounded. His religious rites were taken so seriously, by himself and by the Catholics around him, that he would be called out of his 'sack' at night when wounded were brought into the sick bay.

"In the early part of the campaign, when we had time to be concerned about individuals who had been killed, I was deeply distressed as we identified our dead preparatory to writing letters of condolence to the next of kin. When the Catholic chaplain found one of his men, he performed a little rite that demonstrated his concern to the bystanders. He did something that satisfied their need for a token signifying their common distress. But when I found a Protestant boy, I could only gently cover his form again, while the spectators stood by in a silence heavy with disappointment."

For an unliturgical Unitarian, ex-Chaplain Clark's conclusion was notable: ". . . Although we cannot accept Catholic authoritarianism, we can and should have an adequate liturgy to minister to human needs, positive instruction, and greater identity of interest among Protestants."

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