Catholic Diocese of Arlington
Encourage and teach with patience

military chaplaincy

Co-Sponsorship Program

The Diocese of Arlington working with the Archdiocese for the Military Services U.S.A. mutually assists and supports men who have a vocation to priestly ministry in the military and thus co-sponsor their priestly formation. Seminary tuition, room and board costs are covered 50% by the Diocese of Arlington and 50% by the Archdiocese for the Military Services U.S.A. Upon ordination, the priest will officially be a priest of the Diocese of Arlington with the pre-arrangement that he will be afforded an option to serve on active duty as a military chaplain up to 20 years after three years of priestly service in the diocese. Upon ordination, military priest chaplains are expected and authorized to serve as chaplains in the Inactive Reserve/National Guard until being placed on active duty three years later.

Potential Chaplain Candidates

Any single, practicing Catholic man with an undergraduate college degree who shows signs of having a vocation to priestly ministry in the military, who can meet the acceptance criteria for entry into our diocesan seminary formation program, and who meets the necessary qualifications for military service is eligible to apply as a chaplain candidate for the Diocese of Arlington. Many of the candidates are men on active duty, those with prior military service, or sons of military families. Since the maximum age for military service by law is 62, normally a candidate must, during his seminary formation, be able to enter active duty before the age of 42. (See Chaplain Seminary Formation Below) Adjustments on the entry age may be made for those with prior military service as long as the total number of years of military service can equal twenty or more.

Acceptance

Upon acceptance by the Bishop of Arlington, the co-sponsored candidate will be assigned, by the Bishop, to attend one of the seminaries mentioned in Other Links: Seminarians.

Chaplain Seminary Formation

While in seminary, the co-sponsored chaplain candidate will enter the Chaplain Candidate Program administered by one of the three military branch services; Army, Navy or Air Force. The Chaplain Candidate Program gives a taste of what service as a military chaplain will be like, and assists the chaplain candidate’s discernment process regarding a call to military chaplaincy. For the Diocese of Arlington, the Chaplain Candidate Program would normally be completed within the course of a single summer. Another option spreads the program over the course of three summers, with four weeks of active duty served during a given summer. In this latter scenario, the chaplain candidate will also participate in an abbreviated (6 week) parish assignment within the diocese.

Chaplain co-sponsorship offers military priest chaplains the opportunity to serve both the Diocese of Arlington and the military for as long a period as the priest chaplain and the Bishop of Arlington decide, up to a full 20 years of military service. If one completes a full career as a military chaplain, upon retirement from the military, he then returns to serve out the remainder of his priestly ministry within the Diocese of Arlington.

Note: Military Priest Chaplains are expected to repay, over time, the Archdiocese for the Military Services U.S.A. the 50% cost associated with the Archdiocese’s co-sponsorship of their seminary formation. Military Priest Chaplains are not expected to repay the Diocese of Arlington the 50% cost associated with the Diocese of Arlington co-sponsorship of their seminary formation. However, if eligible, all Diocese of Arlington seminarians who have served in the Armed Forces are encouraged to apply for Veterans Administration (VA) educational benefits to help defray these costs education costs covered by the diocese.

Withdrawal from the Chaplain Candidate Program

The decision to end a candidate's status as a Chaplain Candidate or a Reservist whether by the candidate, the Bishop, or the military service removes them from the chaplain co-sponsorship program with no further obligation of military service. Former seminarian chaplain candidates do, at the discretion of the Bishop, have the opportunity to remain in seminary to continue their seminary formation and eventually become ordained for full time priestly ministry in the diocese. Former priest chaplain candidates would simply continue to serve as a priest in pastoral assignments within the diocese.

If a former seminarian chaplain candidate withdraws or is dismissed from the seminary, the Diocese of Arlington does not seek reimbursement for any of the monies expended. If a former seminarian chaplain candidate ends his candidate status but continues in seminary formation with the Diocese of Arlington, the diocese will then reimburse the Archdiocese for the Military Services U.S.A. the Archdiocese’s cost associated with the co-sponsorship of that particular candidate.