Cornwall, Ontario, Thursday, May 29, 2014

Thank you for welcoming me to this annual gathering. I am delighted to be here.

I would also like to say what an honour it is to be the first governor general and commander-in-chief of Canada to visit the Canadian Armed Forces Chaplain Branch. Your position is one of great significance, and I am grateful to have this opportunity to speak with you and to learn more about your work.

As chaplains, you make a key contribution to Canada and to our armed forces. You support the moral and spiritual well-being of our men and women in uniform, and that of their families and loved ones.

Your motto, vocation ad servitum, “Called to Serve,” eloquently expresses your mission. In effect, you have answered a unique, dual calling, a calling to your faith and to Canada’s military.  

The importance of your efforts cannot be overstated. As you know, military service makes complex, and at times highly challenging, demands on Canadian Armed Forces personnel and their families.

Indeed, that in itself is something of an understatement.

We  recently marked The National Day of Honour for veterans of Afghanistan and their families, which provided us with a solemn reminder of some of those demands. The mission was a complicated, difficult undertaking, and it took a real human toll on those involved.

For more than a dozen years, the men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces served with honour and distinction in Afghanistan, and chaplains played an important role in that effort.

Some of you deployed to support bases, to hospitals and to Afghanistan itself. Others provided rear-party support closer to home.

I understand that the Chaplain’s Branch Flag flew at Canada House in Kabul for a time, and that the flag is now being preserved as a symbol of your service there.

As commander-in-chief, I have had the privilege of meeting with many Canadian Armed Forces members who served in the mission.

I have also taken part in celebrations of outstanding service and achievement, which recognized duty, honour and sacrifice.

And I have met with families and loved ones, and stood beside them at repatriation ceremonies for fallen soldiers, sharing their pain and grief.

These were some of the most difficult moments of my life, and I know that many of you have also been there at personal moments like these. Your services were needed during the mission in Afghanistan, and, more generally, you are needed in communities and on military bases all across Canada.

One of the things I find most remarkable about chaplaincy is the way in which your responsibilities transcend the boundary between private and public life, the spiritual and the temporal.

To my mind, this makes your task one of the most challenging in Canada’s military.

Everyone experiences the pity of war in his or her own, private way, and the same can be said of our spiritual experience.

And as you know, there are no blanket solutions, no one-size-fits-all answers or approaches to supporting the well-being of military personnel and their families.

Every situation is unique and uncharted, simply because we all experience  and approach life differently, even if we all wear the same uniform and serve the same, common cause.

This is true in wartime and in peacetime, which means that a chaplain’s work is never done.

I would like to say a few words about another significant challenge you face as chaplains—one that is also a great opportunity.

I am speaking about religious diversity.

Like many Canadians, I believe our commitment to multiculturalism is one of our country’s greatest assets. In Canada, we are fortunate that most people view diversity as a strength rather than as a weakness. We feel that our society is enhanced by the presence of a variety of languages, ethnicities and worldviews.

This attitude and approach extends to religious diversity—which is so admirably reflected in the diverse, interfaith expression of the Chaplain Branch of Canada’s armed forces.

Your organization symbolizes this country’s rich pluralism and serves a model, as members of different faiths and cultures work together in harmony. You set such an important example, given your prominent position within the military.

The interfaith dialogue and co-operation you exhibit make a powerful statement to Canadian Armed Forces personnel, to all Canadians, and indeed, to people the world over.

It is a demonstration of our values as Canadians—the very ideals we seek to defend when necessary.

I understand that the theme of this year’s retreat is “The Role of Religion in Public,” and that your perspectives are both national and international. It is a subject of vital importance, particularly in our increasingly globalized world.

I would like to commend you on your commitment to diversity, and on the invaluable support you continually provide to Canadian Armed Forces personnel and their families.

The word “chaplain” comes from the word cappelanu, or chapelain in French, after the priests who cared for the cloak that once belonged to Martin of Tours.

He, of course, was St. Martin, who is said to have cut his military cloak in two in an act of sharing with a poor man in need.

I thank you for sharing your faith and for supporting all those in need.