Walter Reed military hospital says new Catholic pastoral care contract under review

One of the top military hospitals in the U.S. says it is reviewing a Catholic pastoral care contact it awarded last month to a Virginia-based firm that specializes in providing government clients with industrial machinery, tactical gear, and janitorial supplies, in addition to chaplains and other religious staff.

Franciscan friars at Holy Name College in nearby Silver Spring, Maryland, had provided pastoral services at Bethesda’s Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for nearly two decades. Their contract expired on March 31, Walter Reed said in a statement Tuesday. ---More...