Aspiring Military Chaplains
Prepare to Serve Parishioners , Members of the Military
Karla Dorweiler
All seminarians prayerfully discern God ’ s call to the priesthood . Some discern an additional summons : the call to be a military chaplain .
United States military chaplains minister to men and women in the Army , Navy , and Air Force ; Navy chaplains also serve those in the Marines and Coast Guard . Men who choose to be chaplains are co-sponsored in the seminary by their home dioceses and the Archdiocese for Military Services ( AMS ) based in Washington , D . C . In addition to financial resources , this partnership provides seminarians support through the AMS and networking opportunities with other chaplain candidates in seminaries across the country .
Three seminarians at Sacred Heart Major Seminary are currently enrolled in the Co-Sponsored Seminarian Program .
Matthew Kurt , a third-year theology seminarian , is a chaplain candidate with the AMS and the Archdiocese of Detroit . He began to consider military service at a young age when he told his aunt he wanted to be the president of the United States ; she responded by saying she would never vote for a president without military experience .
His desire to serve the country grew , and he attended Michigan State University on an ROTC scholarship . There , a second and higher yearning — to serve God as a priest — became clear to him . In May 2018 he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army , and he entered Sacred Heart that fall .
24 Sacred Heart Major Seminary | Mosaic | Spring / Summer 2023