CAF under fire for purging Christian symbols from historic base chapel
· Toronto Sun
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OTTAWA — Months after the Canadian Armed Forces banned chaplains from praying at official military ceremonies , members of a Protestant chapel at an east coast military base are protesting plans to deconsecrate the historic sacred building and turn it into a multi-faith space.
The move, which critics claim is the latest effort by the CAF to minimize Christianity in the Canadian Armed Forces , saw Christian symbols and stained-glass windows permanently removed from Saint Luke’s chapel — changes the chapel’s congregation says erode the building’s historical significance.
“Saint Luke’s Chapel is not merely a building, it is not infrastructure to be repurposed when its square footage is deemed more useful for another purpose,” reads a letter from the chapel’s congregants to base commander Col. Erik Esselaar, a copy of which was viewed by the Toronto Sun.
“It is a living ministry — a breathing, enduring community of faith that has been woven into the very fabric of life at CFB Gagetown for nearly seven decades.”
CFB Gagetown is 20 km southeast of Fredericton, N.B.
Chaplains still reeling over ‘no prayer’ directive
Issued July 29, CANFORGEN 141/26 (Canadian Armed Forces Military Personnel Instructions 03/26 — Spiritual Reflections in Military Settings) directs padres of all faiths, excluding First Nations chaplains, to avoid faith-specific words, rituals or symbols while making public remarks, including prayer, and replace them with secular “spiritual reflections.”
That move sparked outrage among many military chaplain, with some accusing CAF of undertaking a larger radical strategy to eliminate Abrahamic religions from the military chaplaincy.
“If you want to get rid of people that you don’t want to have around, then you do so by eliminating them from the conversation, and that’s precisely what this policy does,” Fr. Timothy Nelligan, a retired Catholic chaplain, told the Toronto Sun in August .
“It’s not just the Catholic Church, but in the vast majority of Protestant denominations, to say nothing of Judaism and Islam, their clerics are all male.”
DND confirmed deconsecration of Protestant chapel
In a statement to the Sun , a Department of National Defence spokesperson confirmed renovations are indeed taking place at the base’s two Christian chapels — the Catholic St. Mary’s and Protestant Saint Luke’s — both of which date back to the late 1950s.
While the statement confirms St, Mary’s symbols, artifacts and stained-glass windows donated by families of The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) will be restored once renovations are complete, items removed from Saint Luke’s will not be returned.
“The second building, which historically housed the Protestant chapel, is being renovated and modified to allow it to welcome CAF members and their families from a variety of spiritual and faith traditions,” the statement read.
“As part of the renovations, the stained-glass window was removed from the church to protect it during construction activities.”
That stained-glass window will not be returned to the chapel, but relocated to the base museum.
As well, the chapel’s steeple, removed as part of the renovations, will not be reinstalled — along with the building’s crosses and other Christian symbols.
“Our objective is to, first and foremost, restore these important buildings; and secondly, to keep sacred spaces available and welcoming for both established Christian congregations and the other spiritual and faith communities which are increasingly represented within the CAF since the chapels were first built in the 1960s,” the DND statement read.
Congregation claims move violates DND policy, Charter
Sources at CFB Gagetown say the chapel’s congregation was not consulted, and that multi-faith spaces already exist at the base.
“Indigenous groups use the chapel from time to time; they aren’t offended. Muslims have their own prayer room. Jews would never use the space to pray as it was set apart for Christians,” one source said, adding that pagans on the base said they had no need for a building but did request a covered outdoor space, which was denied by base officials.
Another source said the base had already installed curtains to cover the chapel’s stained-glass windows, a request allegedly made by the base’s Secular Humanist padre.
Congregants describe Saint Luke’s as a living, breathing part of CFB Gagetown.
“For 68 years, this chapel has been the place where soldiers knelt before deployment, where families gathered to pray for loved ones overseas, where grief was held in sacred silence after loss in the field, where marriages were solemnized, children were baptized, and where the fallen were commended to God,” the letter read.
“To remove its sacred character — to strip the cross, the altar, the icons and the symbols that give it meaning — is not a neutral administrative act. It is the erasure of an irreplaceable part of CFB Gagetown’s heritage and of the living identity of those who have worshipped, and continue to worship, within its walls.”
Congregants say deconsecrating the chapel not only violates sections of the Charter guaranteeing freedom of religion, but also existing CAF policy.
They’re calling for an immediate suspension of artifact removal, meaningful consultation with the congregation, and exploring alternative measures.
“True inclusion does not require the erasure of any one tradition — it requires the intentional making of room for all,” the letter read.
“A multicultural approach to faith accommodation on a military base should be additive, not subtractive.”
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