The Chaplain is a Psychologist Too – Reporting from Kosovo

Szöveg: László Szűcs | 2012. június 6. 9:28

The role of the military chaplain on a mission abroad is even more important than “back at home” in the barracks. The distance separating them from their families makes soldiers much more sensitive and therefore susceptible to religious issues. At least, this is the opinion of 1st Lt. István Rácz, Roman Catholic military chaplain who is currently serving with the sixth rotation of the HDF KFOR contingent in Kosovo.

“The core duty of a military chaplain on a mission abroad is the same as at home: providing pastoral care for the soldiers – and not only for the religious ones", 1st Lt. István Rácz, Roman Catholic military chaplain told us in Camp Slim Lines, Pristina. The military chaplain of the HDF KFOR contingent is presently on his third tour of duty abroad – earlier he has served with the HDF Provincial Reconstruction Team in Afghanistan and here in the capital of Kosovo as well.

“There aren’t any psychologists on the staff of the HDF KFOR contingent, which means that besides the classic duties of a military chaplain I must be a bit of a psychologist among the soldiers. That is, I provide them with pastoral care and try to talk to them as much as I can in order to find out more about their problems. However strange it may be, I have to inform the commander of the contingent about these problems lest the soldiers and the contingent be in danger", 1st Lt. Rácz says, adding that the long absence from the family has the strongest influence on the soldiers’ mental condition.

This is especially true of the present KFOR rotation in which almost half the personnel are on their first tour of duty with a mission abroad. Consequently, they have not yet gained experience as to how one should “handle" the absence of family. As the mission is nearing halfway point, more and more Hungarian soldiers are apparently missing their loved ones. Fortunately, so far nobody had to be returned home from the service abroad due to his bad mental condition, the first lieutenant stressed.

Carrying out the classic duties of a military chaplain means that every Sunday 1st Lt. Rácz celebrates Holy Mass in the container chapel of the camp. These services are a bit peculiar because he co-celebrates a bilingual mass with the military chaplain of the Portuguese contingent. On these occasions, the chapel is packed and sometimes religious peacekeepers from other KFOR camps also arrive in Camp Slim Lines.

Of course as a chaplain he has some further duties in the camp. Over the last three months there have been a few christening, Confirmation and First Communion ceremonies since the sixth rotation started its service", the military chaplain says, adding that a soldier torn from his home environment will much sooner require pastoral care than his comrades who serve in Hungary and can return to their families every afternoon or evening. During a mission abroad, soldiers are confined to a small area and virtually have no private life, which makes them more sensitive so they become much more susceptible and open to religious issues as well.

Of course, this does not entail that a soldier on mission must be more religious than back at home, yet it is a fact that during the six-month tours of duty abroad some of those who have never done so before will seek the military chaplain’s company.