Navy Cancels Catholic Mass At Caifornia Base, Then Reinstates Following Public Pressure

Catholic mass was back on Wednesday after the Navy reversed a decision to eliminate the service as a cost cutting measure in Southern California. The cancellation of mass was announced Saturday in a San Diego Union-Tribune interview with Brian O’Rourke, a spokesman for Navy Region Southwest, but reversed Tuesday amid public pressure.

“The United States Navy, or the Department of Defense, will not be canceling its contract with Catholic priests,” President Trump tweeted Wednesday.

“The Navy’s religious ministries priority is reaching and ministering to our largest demographic — active duty sailors and Marines in the 18- to 25-year-old range. To meet that mission, the Navy has had to make the difficult decision to discontinue most contracted ministry services,” O’Rourke said.

The only religious contracts terminated, however, were those for Catholic mass, with other denominations unaffected.

Vice Adm. Yancey Lindsey, speaking for Naval Installations Command, characterized in-base mass as a redundancy in communities where it is readily available outside of naval installations.

“We have a responsibility,” Lindsey wrote, “to use our limited resources wisely in meeting the needs of our personnel.”

Many within the Catholic community said the decision unfairly targetted them and would make it harder to access their religious services. Many Navy priests also have military experience, something not all civilian churches can offer.

“It’s a Navy chapel — a community thing,” said Anne-Marie Miley. “We get to meet up with other retirees and active-duty personnel. The church out in town has a large congregation. It’s much more personal to go on base.”

The decision to halt mass was reversed Tuesday following the public outcry. Sen. Lindsey Graham had attacked the cancellation, saying, “We need to look at canceling admirals, not priests.”

Archbishop Timothy Broglio, head of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, noted the canceled contracts amounted to only “approximately 0.000156%" of overall naval expenditure.