During the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF)’s 100 years of existence, military chaplains have stalwartly provided Canada’s flying personnel with a ministry of presence. 

Whether in a chapel, on base following a mission briefing or even on the runway before and after a bombing run, these chaplains, predominantly Catholic or Protestant throughout history, are near to offer spiritual comfort.

Upliftment was needed for the pilots summoning up the valour to get inside an Avro Anson or Supermarine Spitfire for an offensive.

Advertisement

David J. Bercuson, the celebrated Canadian historian and author of the new book Canada’s Air Force: The Royal Canadian Air Force at 100, remarked during an event at The Military Museums in Calgary, Alta. how pilots were ever-mindful of the heavy losses the RCAF experienced during the Second World War.

“The job was not to talk about how nervous you were, but you were nervous,” said Bercuson, a University of Calgary history professor. “They were not apprised of the statistics, but they knew when they came back and went into the Quonset Hut, which of the four crews, or two, did not return that day. They could figure that arithmetic out for themselves. 

“How they climbed into that plane night after night when the losses were so high…(Prime Minister William Lyon) Mackenzie King wanted a lot of Canadians to join the Air Force because he did not think we would have such terrible casualties,” continued Bercuson. “Out of the 45,000 Canadians killed during the Second World War, over 12,000 were killed in aircraft, mostly bombers. So, a special kind of courage?”

Perhaps the characteristic best connecting the priests or ministers who served during the significant 20th-century conflicts with the clerics of today is a similar heartfelt desire to be true on-the-ground confidantes for the men and women imbued with this special kind of courage. 

“In my opinion, the tactical level is where the rubber hits the road for any chaplain past or present,” said Fr. Alexander Varga, a CAF lieutenant colonel and both the vicar general and moderator of the curia for the Roman Catholic Military Ordinate of Canada. “The reward of the chaplaincy lies in accompanying those to whom we are called to serve.”

A military chaplain for over 22 years, Varga told The Catholic Register that it is “the hard things” of people’s lives where members of the Royal Canadian Chaplain Service (RCChS) are most immersed because that is where they can most accomplish good.” 

Varga accentuated that this “active, personal and supportive presence” is available to all in uniform “whether they identify with a particular faith tradition, have no specific spiritual/faith practice, belief or custom, or are spiritually curious.” 

Building chaplaincy into an indispensable pillar of the CAF was not easy. It required persistent and fervent advocacy by certain individuals, especially during the Second World War.

Major Tom Hamilton, a military historian for the Directorate of History and Heritage (DHH), said Bishop Charles Nelligan looms as a towering figure. Appointed as Bishop of Pembroke on Aug. 16, 1937, just over two years later, on Oct. 2, 1939, Pope Pius XII named Nelligan Chaplain General of the Canadian Armed Forces.

 Though there was a considerable shortage of pastors in the army, navy and air force, convincing bishops and other ecclesiastical officials to approve priests for chaplaincy service proved to be an arduous task for Nelligan, said Hamilton.

“‘Please, I need priests to be chaplains. Please send me priests. I desperately need priests.’ I have copies of his letters and they are heartfelt. His angst and his anguish are real. This is something that profoundly affected him. And I argue, significantly (impacted) his health.”

Advertisement

Nelligan retired from the Canadian Armed Forces on account of illness on Aug. 10, 1944. He resigned as Bishop of Pembroke less than a year later on May 8, 1945. 

Hamilton, also a senior reserve military chaplain for the 36 Canadian Brigade Group and a pastor at St. Mark’s Presbyterian Church in Charlottetown, P.E.I., stated that Nelligan did not think it right to send Roman Catholic Canadian soldiers into battle without proper spiritual and religious support. 

A fellow product of P.E.I., Archbishop of Toronto James McGuigan – he later became the first English-speaking Canadian cardinal in 1946 – did step up for Nelligan by providing one of the highest chaplain authorization percentages of any Canadian prelate. 

McGuigan also instituted over 90 women’s societies that sent parcels overseas, and he provided chapels and reading rooms and mobilized volunteers to provide meals in military camps.  

Another figure during the Second World War was Cardinal Jean-Marie-Rodrigue Villeneuve of the Archdiocese of Quebec. He encouraged French Canadians to enlist, and in 1944 he visited troops stationed in Great Britain, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands. 

Ultimately, 1942 was a turning point year for both chaplains and the RCAF. On Aug. 3, 1942, a distinct Air Force directorate of chaplain services was founded, and Nelligan served as director. 

Additionally, a push to create new RCAF squadrons and invite RCAF air personnel serving on British Royal Air Force (RAF) bases into these units. This opportunity was embraced by both French and English Canadian personnel as “they certainly felt ostracized” on RAF bases, said Hamilton. 

Roman Catholic chaplains were at the vanguard of shaping the atmosphere at these new RCAF bases. They had a vital role in helping  armed forces members navigate what was known as battle fatigue during WWII. Formerly, the condition was known as “shell shock” in the First World War and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) now. There was also a designation specific to the Air Force called Lack of Moral Fibre (LMF). Pilots who refused to fly missions were inflicted with this branding. 

So pivotal to safeguarding a base’s spirit, and thus operational efficiency, chaplains then and now are called agents or guardians of morale. 

“I (am often asked) ‘padre, what’s the state of morale,” said Hamilton. “Chaplains today regularly do morale reports. Chaplains are seen as an arm’s length arbitrator on providing the chain of command with an understanding of morale.”

These priests and ministers also represented a link for deployed recruits to their families and communities back home, said Hamilton.

“You get airmen going to the chaplain and saying ‘I’ve just gotten this letter home, what does this mean? ‘I’ve just been told that my wife is expecting and I’ve been over here two years. I’ve just been told that the job I was promised when I enrolled has been given to someone else. My father has died and I’ve been told there’s no way I’m going home for the funeral,’ which was a given. When you’re dealing with these crucial life issues, who do you talk to? In the Second World War, you went to the padre.”

Advertisement

Both Varga and Hamilton expressed that the relationship of trust between chaplains and armed forces members, whether they serve the army, navy or the century-old RCAF remains intact and cherished 79 years later in 2024. 

On Nov. 11, along with the men and women who fought and died to protect their homeland,  these agents and guardians of morale will receive the gratitude and prayers of Canadians from coast to coast on Remembrance Day.