The presence of the chaplain is regulated Law on the Separation of Church and State from 1905. Often volunteer chaplains have difficulty getting paid: very often they work part-time, and sometimes they work up to five or six contracts to get paid the equivalent of a full-time job. Why does this calling remain so strong despite the harsh conditions?
A discreet presence in places of suffering
The chaplain has the title of moral support in the world of prisons, in hospitals and within the military. Lay people, deacons, priests, these men and women enable those who want to live their worship to find solace in these places of human fragility. According to Jeanne Mombella, responsible for health care in the Diocese of Montpellier: “At the heart of suffering we find all existential questions. We cannot leave these people alone with their questions”. By law from 1905, the state stipulates that everyone has the right to profess their religion. “The state provides the conditions for this, and chaplains then become subjects of their hosts”explains Bruno Lachnitt, national Catholic prison chaplain, chaplain at the Lyon-Corbas detention center.
At the heart of suffering we find all existential questions.
Serving with the power of the soul on the battlefields
The first mission of a military chaplain is to enable the faithful to live their worship. Then it has a moral and spiritual role for all soldiers. Finally, it also has an advisory mission to the command. “The use of force, the carrying of weapons, the taking of life and the giving of one’s own, all of this raises a certain question of the meaning of life”, says Father Pierre Nicolas Chapeau, military chaplain of the second infantry regiment of the Foreign Legion based in Nîmes. This is where chaplains step in to support soldiers in traumatic and difficult times. A military chaplain is not part of any hierarchy : “neither orders nor receives them. It’s a brotherly relationship”to the Father.
They are also chaplains very present in hospitals, most of them are volunteers. According to a report published by the Ministry of Health in March 2022, there were 3,311 hospital chaplains in France in 2018, including 855 employees. The rest are all volunteers. Like the military and prisons, hospital chaplains will seek to listen to the concerns of people who are suffering. A strong trust develops in the exchange: “The guardians are aware that something powerful is happening at these meetings”according to Jeanne Monbella.
“Prison became the place of my faith”Bruno Lachnitt, national prison chaplain
Behind the prison walls, the chaplain is authorized to visit the prisoners. They are allowed to go to the cell. For Bruno Lachnitt, national prison chaplain, “It’s a real one-on-one with a detainee. We’re dealing with people in sensitive situations.”. These prisoners have as many questions as hospital patients: the meaning of life, how they got there. As Bruno Lachnitt explains, “prison is not a place suitable for self-reflection. Our presence enables them to do this examination”. For the nation’s Catholic prison chaplain, this mission in the prison world is a place for his faith to grow.