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CHAPLAIN

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Originally appearing in Volume V05, Page 852 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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CHAPLAIN  , strictly one who conducts service in a

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chapel (q.v.), i.e. a priest or minister without parochial charge who is attached for
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special duties to a
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sovereign or his representatives (ambassadors, judges, &c.), to bishops, to the establishments of nobles, &c., to institutions (e.g. parliament, congress, colleges,
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schools, workhouses, cemeteries), or to the army and the
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navy . In some cases a parish priest is also appointed to a chaplaincy, butin so far as he is a chaplain he has no parochial duties . Thus a bishop of the
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English Church appoints examining chaplains who conduct the examination of candidates for
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holy orders; such officials generally hold ordinary benefices also . The
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British sovereign has 36 " Chaplains in Ordinary," who perform service at St James's in rotation, as well as " Honorary Chaplains " and " Chaplains of the Household." There are also royal chaplains in Scotland and Ireland . The Scottish chaplains in ordinary are on the same basis as those in England, but the Irish chaplains are attached to the household of the lord-
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lieutenant . The
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Indian
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civil service appoints a number of clergymen of the Church of England and the Church of Scotland . These clergymen are known as Chaplains, and are subject to the same conditions as other civil servants, being eligible for a retiring pension after 23 years of service . Chaplains are also appointed under the
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foreign office to embassies, legations, consulates, &c . Workhouse chaplains are appointed by overseers and guardians on the direction of the
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Local Government Board, to which alone such chaplains are responsible . Prison chaplains are appointed by the home secretary . In the British army there are two kinds of chaplains, permanent and occasional . The former, described as Chaplains to the Forces, hold commissions, serving throughout the
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empire except in India: they include a Chaplain-General who ranks as a major-general, and four classes of subordinate chaplains who rank respectively as colonels, lieutenant-colonels, majors and captains .

There are about too in all . Special chaplains (Acting Chaplains for Temporary Service) may be appointed by a secretary of

state under the Army Chaplains Act of 1868 to perform religious service for the army in particular districts . The permanent chaplains may be Church of England,
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Roman Catholic, or Presbyterian; Wesleyans (if they prefer not to accept commissions) may be appointed Acting Chaplains . The Church of England chaplains report to the chaplain-general, while other chaplains report to the War Office
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direct . In the navy, chaplains are likewise appointed but do not hold official rank . They must have a special ecclesiastical licence from the archbishop of Canterbury . In 1909 a Chaplains' Department of the Territorial Force was formed; there is no denominational restriction . In the armies and navies of all Christian countries chaplains are officially appointed, with the single exception of France, where the office was abolished on the separation of Church and State . In the army of the
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United States of
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America chaplains are originally appointed by the president, and subsequently are under the authority of the secretary of war, who receives recommendations as regards transfer from department commanders . By act of Congress, approved in
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April 1904, the establishment of chaplains was fixed at 57 (15 with the rank of major), 12 for the artillery corps and 1 each for the cavalry and
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infantry regiments . There is no distinction of
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sect . In the U.S. navy the chaplains are 24 in number, of whom 13 rank as lieutenants, 7 as commanders, 4 as captains .

In the armies of Roman Catholic countries there are elaborate regulations . Where the chaplains are numerous a chaplain-major is generally appointed, but in the

absence of special sanction from the pope such officer has no spiritual jurisdiction . Moreover, chaplains must be approved by the ordinary of the locality . In Austria there are Roman Catholic, Greek Church, Jewish and
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Mahommedan chaplains . The Roman Catholic chaplains are classed as parish priests, curates and assistants, and are subject to an army Vicar Apostolic . In war, at an army headquarters there are a " field-
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rabbi," a " military
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imam," an evangelical minister, as well as the Roman Catholic hierarchy . By a decree of the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda (May 15, 1906), the archbishop of Westminster is the ecclesiastical
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superior of all commissioned Roman Catholic chaplains in the British army and navy, and he is empowered to negotiate with the civil authorities concerning appointments . In Germany, owing to the fact that there are different religions in the different states, there is no
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uniform
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system . In Prussia there are two Feldprobste (who are directly under the war minister), one Lutheran, one Roman Catholic . The latter is a titular bishop, and has
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sole spiritual authority over soldiers . There are also army corps and divisional chaplains of both faiths . Bavaria and Saxony, both Roman Catholic states, have no special spiritual hierarchy; in Bavaria, the archbishop of Munich and Freysing is ex officio bishop of the army .

The origin of the office of capellanus or cappellanus in the

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medieval church is generally traced (see Du Cange, Gloss. med. et infim . Latin.) to the appointment of persons to watch over the sacred cloak (cap pa or capella) of St Martin of
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Tours, which was preserved as a relic by the French monarchs . In time of war this cloak was carried with the army in the field, and was kept in a
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tent which itself came to be known as a cappella or capella . It is also suggested that the capella was simply the tent or canopy which the French kings erected over the altar in the field for the worship of the soldiers . However this may be, the name capellanus was generally applied to those who were in charge of sacred relics: such officials were also known as custodes, martyrarii, cubicularii . Thus we hear of a custos palatinae capellae who was in charge of the palace chapel relics, and guarded them in the field; the chief of these custodes was sometimes called the archicapellanus . From the care of sacred relics preserved in royal chapels, &c . (sacella or capellae), the office of capellanus naturally extended its scope until it covered practically that of the
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modern court chaplain, and was officially recognized by the Church . These clerics became the confessors in royal and noble houses, and were generally chosen from among bishops and other high dignitaries . The arch-chaplain not only received jurisdiction within the royal household, but represented the authority of the monarch in religious matters, and also acquired more general powers . In France the arch-chaplain was
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grand-almoner, and both in France and in the Holy Roman Empire was also high chancellor of the
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realm . The office was abolished in France at the Revolution in 1789, revived by
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Pius IX. in 1857, and again abolished on the fall of the Second Empire .

The Roman Catholic Church also recognizes a class of beneficed chaplains, supported out of " pious

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foundations " for the specific duty of saying, or arranging for, certain masses, or taking
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part in certain services . These chaplains are classified as follows:—Ecclesiastical, if the foundation has been recognized officiallyas a benefice;
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Lay, if this recognition has not been obtained; Mercenary, if the person who has been entrusted with the duty of performing or procuring the desired celebration is a layman (such persons also are sometimes called " Lay Chaplains ") ; Collative, if it is provided that a bishop shall collate or confer the right to act upon the accepted
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candidate, who otherwise could not be recognized as an ecclesiastical chaplain . There are elaborate regulations governing the appointment and conduct of these chaplains . Other classes of chaplains are:—(x) Parochial or Auxiliary Chaplains, appointed either by a parish priest (under a provision authorized by the Council of Trent) or by a bishop to take over certain specified duties which he is unable to perform; (2) Chaplains of Convents, appointed by a bishop: these must be men of mature age, should not be regulars unless secular priests cannot be obtained, and are not generally to be appointed for
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life; (3) Pontifical Chaplains, some of whom (known as Private Chaplains) assist the pontiff in the celebration of Mass; others attached directly to the pope are honorary private chaplains who occasionally assist the private chaplains, private clerics of the chapel,
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common chaplains and supernumerary chaplains . The common chaplains were instituted by Alexander VII., and in 1907 were definitely allowed the title " Monsignore " by Pius X .

End of Article: CHAPLAIN
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HENRY CHAPLIN (1841– )

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