walter reed pediatric specialty clinic :: Article CreatorGOP Lawmakers Demand Answers Over Walter Reed's 'cease And Desist' Order To Catholic Priests At Hospital During Holy Week
A new, secular service was contracted to handle pastoral care at the hospital after the Franciscans had provided services for nearly 20 years.AP
Eleven other Republicans in Congress, led by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)
sent their own letter to Austin.
"Depriving service members and veterans, who are receiving care, of the ability to enter into the Paschal Mystery with priests is utterly unconscionable," the letter said. "DHA doctors are advocating for minors to receive experimental gender transition procedures, but no one seems to be advocating for the right of our service members and veterans to receive the most important sacraments during this most sacred time of year."
The Franciscans said on Wednesday that, while they are disappointed, they are grateful to have had the "privilege" to provide services at Walter Reed.
"While this is certainly disappointing after 20 years of service – after building trust and so many wonderful relationships and friendships – the Franciscan Friars of Holy Name Province respect the process," the statement said. "It has been an incredible privilege – and, really, a very powerful ministerial experience – for the Franciscan Friars to be invited into the lives of these true American heroes who have sacrificed so much for our country."
With Post wires
Walter Reed Reviewing Disputed Catholic Chaplaincy Contract, Medical Center Says
Officials at the Pentagon's Defense Health Agency may be looking for a way out of a planned contract for Catholic chaplaincy services for Walter Reed National Military Medical Center after it drew fire from congressional Republicans on Tuesday.
Just before Catholics marked Holy Week in the run-up to Easter Sunday, the agency sent a "cease and desist" letter to the Franciscan Friars at Holy Name College Friary in Silver Spring, ejecting them after a 20-year relationship at the famed military health center.
The agency said it had awarded the chaplaincy services contract instead to Mack Global, LLC, a private contractor that its critics say cannot provide such services because priests serving as chaplains must work for a bishop and not a private company.
Late Tuesday as the uproar grew, Walter Reed officials said in a statement that the contract "is under review to ensure it adequately supports the religious needs of our patients and beneficiaries."
Rick McNamara, public affairs officer at Walter Reed, said in a telephone interview that if Mack Global, a Richmond-based professional services contractor, cannot fulfill the contract's terms, it would go back to the Defense Health Agency's contracting office either to be rebid or awarded to the second-place finalist.
Mr. McNamara said he did not know who that runner-up bidder was.
Mack says on its website that its main business lines serving its government and private-sector clients include "telework consulting services, administrative and religious staffing, transportation and roadway services, [and] professional development and training."
The March 31 breakup with the Franciscans alarmed Sen. Marco Rubio, Florida Republican, who with 10 Senate and House GOP colleagues sent a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. In questioning the decision to kill the contract, they alleged that gender transition surgery for minors was a greater priority for DHA than was providing Roman Catholic service members appropriate pastoral care at Walter Reed.
"DHA doctors are advocating for minors to receive experimental gender transition procedures, but no one seems to be advocating for the right of our service members and veterans to receive the most important sacraments during this most sacred time of year," the letter said.
Republican lawmakers signing the letter included Sens. Roger Marshall and Jerry Moran of Kansas and James Lankford of Oklahoma; and House Republican Reps. Doug Lamborn of Colorado; Michael Waltz, Cory Mills and Carlos Gimenez of Florida; Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin; Jim Banks of Indiana and Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Iowa.
"Actions to deny Catholic Pastoral Care from service members and veterans at Walter Reed [go] against the morals, way of life, and rights that make up the fabric of our great nation," the congressional letter said. The new contract "was awarded to a for-profit secular defense contracting firm that … has no way of providing Catholic priests" to the facility.
Contacted by a reporter on Monday, Robin Mack, Mack Global's CEO, said, "We're still in the process of getting all that worked out" when asked how they will supply Catholic priests for the facility.
Pastoral care
The Rubio-led letter asks Mr. Austin to detail the "factors" that led to the decision to drop the Franciscans "after two decades of providing consistent pastoral care." They also want to know how many Catholic priests are "currently available" at the facility, "how much longer the current active-duty priest" will be there, and sought details of the pastoral care provided during Holy Week.
A spokesperson for Mr. Austin said via email that answers would be provided to Mr. Rubio and the other signers of the letter and not the media.
According to Catholic teaching, most of the sacraments, including Communion and Confession, can only be performed by a validly ordained priest.
In its Tuesday evening statement on the matter, the medical center insisted it "is a welcoming and healing environment that honors and supports a full range of religious, spiritual and cultural needs."
The center said it can provide Catholic religious services without a contract, and "can leverage Catholic priests assigned to other Defense [Department] organizations within the region." They said three additional priests in the area "are available to provide services" to Catholics at Walter Reed.
The facility has 244 inpatient beds and handled 7,400 patient admissions in 2022, Mr. McNamara said. There are also 7,100 staff personnel at Walter Reed both for its hospital and the numerous clinics at the facility, all of whom can also access chaplaincy services if desired.
The Holy Name Friars said the abrupt termination of their relationship with DHA was "certainly disappointing … after building trust and so many wonderful relationships and friendships," but they "respect the process" of awarding contracts.
"It has been an incredible privilege — and, really, a very powerful ministerial experience — for the Franciscan Friars to be invited into the lives of these true American heroes who have sacrificed so much for our country," the friars said.
The Most Rev. Timothy P. Broglio, Archbishop for the Military Services, was less conciliatory in a statement released last weekend, calling it a "classic case where the adage 'if it is not broken, do not fix it' applies."
"I fear that giving a contract to the lowest bidder overlooked the fact that the bidder cannot provide the necessary service," Rev. Broglio wrote. "I earnestly hope that this disdain for the sick will be remedied at once and their First Amendment rights will be respected."
The Archdiocese for the Military Services said in the statement that the timing of the contract cancellation was particularly insensitive. Coming right before one of the holiest periods on the liturgical calendar: "While Walter Reed's chaplain office claims Catholic care is being provided during Holy Week, the AMS maintains that without Catholic priests present at the medical center, service members and veterans are being denied the constitutional right to practice their religion."
Sen. John Fetterman Released From Walter Reed National Military Medical Center
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman has left Walter Reed National Military Medical Center after six weeks of inpatient treatment for clinical depression, with plans to return to the Senate when the chamber resumes session in mid-April, his office said Friday.
In a statement, Fetterman's office said he is back home in Braddock, in western Pennsylvania, with his depression "in remission" and gave details on his treatment including that his depression was treated with medication and that he is wearing hearing aids for hearing loss.
Fetterman, who has a wife and three school-age children, said he is happy to be home.
"I'm excited to be the father and husband I want to be, and the senator Pennsylvania deserves. Pennsylvanians have always had my back, and I will always have theirs," said Fetterman said. "I am extremely grateful to the incredible team at Walter Reed. The care they provided changed my life."
Fetterman will return to the Senate the week of April 17.
Fetterman checked into Walter Reed after weeks of what aides described as Fetterman being withdrawn and uninterested in eating, discussing work or the usual banter with staff.
Fetterman, 53, was barely a month into his service in Washington and still recovering from the aftereffects of the stroke he suffered last May during his campaign when he went to Walter Reed on the advice of the Capitol physician, Dr. Brian P. Monahan.
Post-stroke depression is common and treatable through medical and talk therapy, doctors say.
Fetterman's return will be welcome news for Democrats who have struggled to find votes for some nominations, in particular, without Fetterman there.
Fetterman's office also released details of his treatment under medical professionals led by Dr. David Williamson, a neuropsychiatrist.
When he was admitted, Fetterman had "severe symptoms of depression with low energy and motivation, minimal speech, poor sleep, slowed thinking, slowed movement, feelings of guilt and worthlessness, but no suicidal ideation," the statement attributed to Williamson said.
The symptoms had steadily worsened over the preceding eight weeks and Fetterman had stopped eating and drinking fluids. That caused low blood pressure, the statement said.
"His depression, now resolved, may have been a barrier to engagement," it said.
Fetterman had the stroke last May as he was campaigning in a three-way Democratic primary race. The stroke nearly killed him, he has said, and he had surgery to implant a pacemaker with a defibrillator to manage two heart conditions, atrial fibrillation and cardiomyopathy.
One of Fetterman's main aftereffects from the stroke is auditory processing disorder, which can render someone unable to speak fluidly and quickly process spoken conversation into meaning. Fetterman uses devices in conversations, meetings and congressional hearings that transcribe spoken words in real time.
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