Catholic military parish

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The Catholic military chaplaincies ( KMilPfA ) are local authorities of the Federal in the division of the Ministry of Defense . The roughly 100 small offices at Bundeswehr locations throughout Germany and at four locations abroad basically consist of a military pastor, who heads the authority and is a temporary official , and a parish assistant.

Status and tasks

The Catholic military parish offices belong to the organizational area of ​​military chaplaincy of the Bundeswehr and (with the exception of the foreign locations) are subordinate to the Catholic military deans , who supervise them. These are in turn subordinate to the Catholic Military Bishop's Office as the higher federal authority. Its head, the military vicar general, is the disciplinary superior of all military chaplains.

The Catholic military chaplains are usually responsible for various offices and properties and look after the soldiers there in their service in the Bundeswehr, in everyday military life as well as on missions abroad . Through pastoral care they provide orientation and support for all members of the armed forces .

In individual cases the Catholic military parish offices have additional staff, such as a deacon , another parish assistant or an office worker, but only ever one military pastor. Therefore, there are several Catholic military parish offices at the largest Bundeswehr locations with many Catholic soldiers: three in Koblenz and two each in Berlin , Hamburg , Cologne , Ulm and Wilhelmshaven . Some Catholic military chaplains are staffed with senior military chaplains who hold the official title of military dean and are not temporary officials.

The ecclesiastical tasks of the Catholic military parish offices include the implementation of church services and pastoral talks. The military chaplains are independent of state instructions in fulfilling their church tasks (“spiritual mandate”). There, the ecclesiastical pastoral care secret and the ecclesiastical confessional secret can apply. The state tasks include giving life- science lessons , which are not considered to be religious practice, are compulsory for all soldiers and are carried out according to specifications and on behalf of the state.

Foreign locations

The three German Catholic Military Parish offices at the Bundeswehr locations abroad are:

They are not managed by a Catholic Military Deanery, but directly by the Catholic Military Bishop's Office. There are also four Catholic military chaplains in a secondary position:

  • Catholic military chaplain in secondary office for Portugal ( Lisbon )
  • Catholic military chaplain in secondary office for Spain ( Albacete )
  • Catholic military chaplain in secondary office for Turkey ( Antalya )
  • Catholic military chaplain on a part-time basis for Washington, DC / USA

history

The number of Catholic military parishes is regularly adapted to the structure of the Bundeswehr (site closings, reductions, increases).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Catholic military parish. In: Bundeswehr location database . www.zmsbw.de, accessed on April 1, 2020 .