Hegseth thinks of everything except war

It wasn’t enough to monitor the waistlines of troops and generals, the neatness of their shaves and the soldiers’ muscle tone. Pete Hegseth, head of the Pentagon, has decided to devote himself to the spiritual welfare of those in uniform as well. Among the various reforms announced, he revealed the other evening the establishment of the Office for Religious Affairs. No more filters, no more red tape or delays: from now on, military chaplains will report directly to the top echelons, thanks precisely to this office. If necessary, directly to him, the Secretary. The stated aim is to strengthen the soldiers’ patriotic and Christian spirit, to remind them that they are fighting for a country whose motto is ‘In God We Trust’ and that everything must take place in accordance with the will of Providence.

While these are the official reasons – lofty and imbued with a typically American sense of conviction – beneath the surface, some speculate that this is a purely political manoeuvre: when Donald Trump announced that he would occupy and, if necessary, conquer Greenland ‘because we need it’, one of the most vocal voices of opposition came from the US military ordinariate itself. The head of the ordinariate—himself a bishop of staunchly conservative leanings—even spoke of soldiers’ right to exercise conscientious objection should the Pentagon issue an order to attack. And dozens of chaplains immediately fell into line with this stance. This represented a bitter surprise for Hegseth, who had not anticipated such resistance. Aware of how deeply rooted the chaplains were among Catholics, he now saw an opportunity to exert closer oversight in order to prevent defections and public statements at odds with his own wishes and those of his president. Certainly, between the Strait of Hormuz needing to be freed, a Russian-Ukrainian war far from reaching its conclusion, and a fluid situation in the Middle East, the establishment of an Office for Religious Affairs did not seem to be a priority.