Founded by Stefano Vaccara
Editor in Chief: Giampaolo Pioli
america Oggi 1988
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English Editor: Grace Russo Bullaro
Military chaplains/Ansa
The line has been drawn, and it leaves no room for ambiguity: at the Pentagon, spirituality without faith no longer has a place. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the immediate elimination of the Army Spiritual Fitness Guide, the manual adopted by the U.S. Army to shape the spiritual well-being of service members, marking a sharp turn in the role of military chaplains and in how the U.S. armed forces conceive spiritual support.
The decision is part of a broader review of the chaplain corps, which is tasked with providing religious assistance to more than 1.3 million active-duty troops and their families. According to the secretary, in recent years this function has been progressively hollowed out, turning ministers of faith into quasi-therapeutic figures focused on emotional balance and self-help rather than on faith, doctrine, and virtue.
At the center of the criticism is precisely the guide itself, a document exceeding 100 pages, accused of reflecting a “new age” and secularized approach. The text, Hegseth has pointed out, mentions God only once, while terms related to emotions and emotional health appear dozens of times. In his view, such an approach betrays the original mission of the chaplaincy, established in the United States as early as 1775, even before the formal creation of the Department of Defense.
Hegseth announced that he has signed a directive with immediate effect to ban its use, making clear that such training materials are incompatible with the identity of the armed forces. In a public message, he summed up his position bluntly: “Our chaplains are chaplains, not emotional support officers, and we’re going to treat them as such,” he added.
This stance fits into a broader framework that has already emerged in recent months, through which the Republican-affiliated conservative aims to impose a cultural shift at the Pentagon. From criticism of excessive political correctness to calls for stricter physical standards, including remarks targeting overweight senior officers, Hegseth is shaping an agenda centered on discipline, identity, and traditional values.
The relationship between religion and the U.S. military has always been delicate. Today, the chaplain corps includes representatives of more than 200 faith traditions, in a country where roughly 70 percent of the population identifies as religious. The challenge now will be to reconcile confessional pluralism with a return to an explicitly religious framework, without sliding into exclusion or internal tension. The message, however, is clear: spirituality, if stripped of faith, is no longer considered sufficient.
Toscana d’origine, giornalista pubblicista, si occupa di reportage e inchieste. Originally from Tuscany, she is a freelance journalist who specializes in reportage and investigative journalism.
Editor in Chief: Giampaolo Pioli | English Editor: Grace Russo Bullaro | Founded by Stefano Vaccara
Editor in Chief: Giampaolo Pioli
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English Editor: Grace Russo Bullaro
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Founded by Stefano Vaccara
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