Conference of Catholic Bishops Calls on Armed Forces to Reconsider Prayer Ban

The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) is urging the Canadian Armed Forces to reconsider a recent directive banning members from using religious language at official military events, saying the policy violates Charter-protected rights.

The CCCB said in an Aug. 18 statement that it “stands in solidarity” with concerns recently raised by Bishop Scott McCaig, head of the Military Ordinariate of Canada, who said the policy unveiled last month may violate the principle of state neutrality on religion, and infringe on the sincerely held religious beliefs of Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members and others who speak at CAF events.

“Bishop McCaig states that, for many people, ‘meaning, purpose, and spiritual wellbeing’ cannot be separated from God. He argues that the new policy requires precisely such a separation and therefore conflicts with the Charter’s protection of the fundamental freedoms of conscience and religion,” the CCCB said.

Instead of prayer, or the use of now-banned words such as “God,” or other faith-specific terms and principles, the DND says a non-religious “spiritual reflection” should be delivered, focusing on themes such as meaning, purpose, and significant life experiences.

The policy carves out exceptions for indigenous practices containing spiritual elements that are presented for historical, cultural, or educations purposes. It also maintains the allowance of religious prayers at military and state funerals, voluntary religious gatherings, and private counselling with chaplains.

Military Ordinary Raises Concerns

In his Aug. 10 statement, Bishop McCaig said the new instruction raises concerns about religious freedom for those whose understanding of meaning and purpose is inseparable from their sincerely held religious beliefs.

“For a great many people, chaplains and members alike, one cannot separate ‘meaning, purpose, and spiritual well being’ from ‘God, etc.’ Yet they are required by this instruction to do precisely that,” McCaig wrote.

“They are required to do so despite it being contrary to sincerely held beliefs and the conviction of conscience. Is this not precisely the kind of coercion that the Charter is meant to protect us from?” he added.

McCaig argued the policy’s stated goal of upholding state neutrality and inclusivity rests on a “fundamental misunderstanding.”

“This instruction is based on a false premise: simply because some belief systems do not profess the existence of God, or some other divine source, does not make them neutral,” he said.

McCaig noted that secular humanists are one of the spiritual faith traditions with chaplaincy representation and said that non-religious beliefs and philosophies still often hold specific, normative beliefs about divinity, meaning and purpose.

A DND spokesperson previously told the Epoch Times the directive was meant “to better respond to the moral and spiritual needs of all members” and cited the Supreme Court of Canada’s 2015 decision in Mouvement laïque québécois v. Saguenay, which held that the state must maintain maximal neutrality toward religious belief and non-belief.

McCaig cited the same ruling but argued the military had drawn an incorrect conclusion from it.

“What seems clear is that it is the favoured expression of one faith, to the exclusion of others, that is judged unconstitutional,” he said. “The Court ruled in favour of an open secularism, the freedom of religious conscience and expression for all rather than limiting rights, and enforcing restrictions.”

“In contrast, this instruction enforces a closed secularism which seeks to hinder and restrict public expressions of belief that some may find offensive,” he added.