Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Secretary of State of His Holiness, said that the military chaplain is called to be a “companion who enlightens conscience, so that obedience does not become irresponsibility and discipline does not turn into moral automatism.”
“Conscience is the most secret core and sanctuary of a person, where he or she is alone with God,” the prelate preached at a March 3 Mass at the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls marking the 100th anniversary of Italy’s Military Ordinariate. The Church’s task, said Cardinal Parolin, is “to safeguard and enlighten” conscience, “this inviolable space of the human person.”