AFU: Only 50% of military chaplain positions filled
The deficit of full-time chaplains is being supplemented by volunteers on the front line.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) have 800 positions for full-time military chaplains, but only 50% of these positions are currently filled. This was stated by Junior Lieutenant of the AFU Chaplain Service, Denis Horenkov, who is also an instructor at the Military Chaplain Training Center based at the Military Institute of Kyiv National University named after Shevchenko, according to Interfax.
"We are experiencing a severe shortage of full-time chaplains. Currently, there is a strong movement of volunteer chaplains who come, help as much as they can, and then return to their regular lives," he said. "Therefore, we are trying to find people who would like to become part of the Armed Forces, to limit their own freedom, and support the servicemen," Horenkov added.
He also lamented that there are very few experienced chaplains in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
"Now we are dealing with the first generation of full-time military chaplains. This generation of chaplains consists of people who came by the call of their hearts. A chaplain does not always understand how to be more effective within the unit, and officers do not always understand the chaplain's role," Horenkov explained.
According to him, they are currently looking for volunteers willing to limit their freedom, join the AFU, and support the soldiers.
Horenkov discussed the allocation of quotas, which allow representatives of different denominations to receive chaplaincy mandates from the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (DESS). According to him, the Military Chaplain Service distributes new chaplains to combat units, but not only combat units, as there are also chaplains in military institutes and hospitals. He mentioned that when determining quotas, the state relies on sociological studies conducted in combat units.
"Based on this research, the state determines that, for example, one chaplain is assigned for every 800 servicemen. This is, of course, very few, but it is at least something," he noted.
The instructor specified that most of the DESS mandates were given to Orthodox Christians, but there are also mandates for Catholics, Protestants, Jews, and Muslims.
As reported by the UOJ, Viktor Yelensky, head of the State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience, stated that a priest who wants to become a military chaplain must leave the UOC.
