Two Jesuit priests who served in the Mexican-American War (1846-1848) were the first Catholic military chaplains. Father John McElroy, a native of Ireland who later founded Boston College, is cited as the first chaplain. Father Anthony Rey was the first Catholic chaplain killed while serving in the U.S. military.

As more Catholics — especially Irish and Germans — immigrated and joined the military, Father Kyle said Church leaders wanted to care for their spiritual needs.

Although the Church tried to stay out of politics during the Civil War, he said some bishops recognized the evils of slavery. “Some bishops also were distressed about brothers fighting brothers,” he said, noting Catholic chaplains ministered to both Union and Confederate troops.

Father Peter Whelan was called “the Angel of Andersonville” for his work at the notorious Georgia POW camp. “Most (of the prisoners) were not Catholic, but he saw it as his duty to care for them,” Father Kyle said.

Civil War chaplains gave general absolution to soldiers and cared for the dying, including at key battles like Gettysburg, July 1-3, 1863.

“Religious sisters also played a role during the Civil War as nurses, caring for the wounded on both sides,” Father Kyle said.

In 1880, Father Eli Washington John Lindesmith became the first priest from the Diocese of Cleveland to become a military chaplain, a role he filled for 11 years, serving in Keogh, North Dakota.

“When he returned to Cleveland, he dressed like a cowboy,” Father Kyle said. Father Lindesmith had a love of history and sent many Native American artifacts back to Cleveland. “He was the only priest in an 800-mile radius,” Father Kyle said. Father Lindesmith died at age 94 in 1922.

World War I became a testing ground for American Catholics, Father Kyle said, explaining that a number of immigrants, many of whom were Catholic, had to prove their loyalty to their adopted country. There were attempts to limit immigration, and there was some anti-Catholic sentiment.

“At the start of the war (1914), there were 25 Catholic military chaplains. By the end of the war (1918), there were more than 1,000,” Father Kyle said. “The first and last American officers to die in the war were both Catholic.”

Father Francis Duffy, chaplain for the famous Fighting 69th, a mostly Irish unit of the New York Army National Guard, is the most highly decorated cleric in U.S. Army history.

In addition to the chaplains, Father Kyle said the Knights of Columbus aided the war effort by establishing morale-boosting canteens, a precursor to the United Service Organizations, also known as the USO. They distributed comfort items and military pull-chain rosaries, which could withstand conditions in the field.

The National Catholic War Council, which tried to address problems that Catholics at war might face, was created in 1917. It evolved and now is the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. “It showed society that it was possible to be fully American and fully Catholic,” Father Kyle said.

When the U.S. was fighting in World War II (1941-45), about 25% of the military was Catholic, and there were about 3,000 Catholic chaplains, including several from the Cleveland Diocese. One heroic chaplain was Father Aloysius Smitt, USN, who died after saving several men trapped on the USS Oklahoma as she capsized during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

Two chaplains — Venerable Father Emil Kapaun, World War II and Korea, and Father Vincent Capodanno, Vietnam — are on the path to sainthood for their selfless actions. Father Kapaun, who died in a Korean POW camp in 1951, received the Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously.

Servant of God Father Capodanno, a Maryknoll missionary, was tending to wounded Marines under fire when he was killed. He also was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously.

Father Kyle said the Archdiocese for the Military Services, which oversees military chaplains and cares for American Catholic military personnel and their families around the world, was established in 1986. Previously, the Archdiocese of New York filled those roles. Archbishop Timothy Broglio (pictured below), a Cleveland native, leads the archdiocese. Auxiliary Bishop Neal Buckon is also a Cleveland native.

“Thank God for their service,” Father Kyle said of all who served as military chaplains. “And we continue to ask for support for the sainthood causes of Father Capodanno and Kapaun.”