page_title: Military chaplain
section_title: France
hierarchical_section_title: Military chaplain / Military chaplains by country / France
caption_attribution_description: English: From left to right, Jewish, Muslim, and Roman Catholic chaplains of the French Army at the Place de Strasbourg in June 2013 Français&#160;: Aumôniers militaires israélite, musulman et catholique de la Place de Strasbourg, juin 2013 Svenska: Från vänster till höger: judisk fältrabbin, muslimsk fältimam, katolsk fältpräst.
context_page_description: A military chaplain ministers to military personnel and, in most cases, their families and civilians working for the military. In some cases they will also work with local civilians within a military area of operations.
  Although the term chaplain originally had Christian roots, it is generally used today in military organizations to describe all professionals specially trained to serve any spiritual need, regardless of religious affiliation. In addition to offering pastoral care to individuals, and supporting their religious rights and needs, military chaplains may also advise the executive on issues of religion, and ethics, morale and morals as affected by religion. They may also liaise with local religious leaders in an effort to understand the role of religion as a factor both in hostility and war and in reconciliation and peace.
  Military chaplains normally represent a religion or faith group but work with military personnel of all faiths and none. Some countries, like the Netherlands and Belgium, also employ humanist chaplains who offer a non-religious approach to chaplain support.
context_section_description: During the Middle Ages, the cloak of Saint Martin of Tours, (cappa Sancti Martini), one of the most sacred relics of the Frankish kings, would be carried everywhere the king went, even into battle, as a holy relic upon which oaths were sworn. The clergyman who served as custodian for the cloak in its reliquary was called a capellānus, and, by extension, all clergymen who officiated in reliquaries, sanctuaries, or chapels were eventually called cappellāni. This eventually gave chapelain in Old French and was borrowed into English.
  Saint Louis was the king who gave legal status to the military chaplains, since chaplains serving under their lord in the Crusades were the first to be militarized. In 1531, during the Battle of Kappel, the Swiss reformist Huldrych Zwingli became the very first Protestant military chaplain to be killed on the battlefield.
  The modern French Aumônerie militaire (military chaplaincy) was created and instituted by a July 8, 1880 Act of Parliament, which sets forth how the chaplaincy functions with regard to the Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish faiths. The Secularism Act (1905), which establishes a strict separation of church and state in the French government, does not however apply to the military. The defense minister appoints three command-level military chaplains—one per faith—in charge of all chaplains. The chaplains, serving in the army, are assigned by one of these three military chaplains. The first Muslim chaplain-general, Abdelkader Arbi, was commissioned in 2006.
  French military chaplains wear a uniform since World War II, but have no rank or rank insignia. The modern military chaplaincy is rooted in that war, where military chaplains were incorporated in almost every Free French Forces fighting unit and made up of personnel from England, France, or any of its imperial domains. After the war, military chaplains were sent to occupation zones in Germany and Austria.
  In the 1950s, military chaplains were sent in the French Union's territories, including Indochina and Algeria. In 1954, pastor Tissot was one of the last paratrooper volunteers to jump over the besieged Dien Bien Phu fortified camp in northern Vietnam. On May 7, he was made prisoner of the Viet Minh and sent to a re-education camp, deep in the jungle.
  Since 1984, French military chaplains are involved in every military operation—including the Gulf War—from Rapid Reaction Force (Force d'Action Rapide) units to navy ships.
  In France, the existence of military chaplains has come under debate because of the separation of church and state; however, their position has been maintained as of 2004.
caption: French military chaplains Jewish, Muslim and Catholic, Place de Strasbourg 2013
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