Military priests in War

 

Above, Father Maurice Inchaffray blesses the troops of King Robert Bruce of Scotland before fighting the English in the Battle of Bannockburn

Antonio Jose Rubi

I am writing this on the feast day of the Most Holy Name of Jesus. On the day I wrote this article, I declared a ‘’holy war’’ against the Disney Infidels with my own cartoon characters like Catalina Santos

-        Antonio, the Author

You may have seen those depictions of a priest, holding a crucifix fighting in battle with the soldiers, most of them set in the Middle Ages. These customs dates back to Old Testament times, and is still being used today. A notable medieval example is Father Maurice Inchaffray, the chaplain of the Scottish Army of Robert Bruce who defeated King Edward II of England (see picture above), as well as the priests who fought with Joan of Arc against the English.

One of the notable military priests ever was Saint John Capistrano, himself the patron saint of military chaplains. In 1456, at 70 years old, he himself led an army in Belgrade against the Ottoman Turks. He died of Bubonic plague shortly after.

Another example is Saint Lawrence of Brindisi, a Capuchin priest who in 1601 in Hungary, led the army of the Holy Roman Empire against the Ottoman Turks. This custom made its way even to modern times, for example, during the War in the Vendee in 1793 in the French Revolution, parish priests with the cross in their hands would fight with the Catholic peasants against the Jacobins.

This custom was also used by Spaniards, who transported this custom to the Philippines. In 1808, when Napoleon invaded Spain during the Peninsular War, many priests led a crusade against Napoleon.

A priest leads a peasant army holding a cross against Napoleon.

In the Philippines, there were many militant priests, like Fray Agustin de San Pedro, OAR of Cagayan de Oro, who led Catholic Filipinos against the army of Sultan Kudarat of Maguindanao, Father Jose Ducos, SJ of Misamis who fought with the Filipinos against Moro Mohammedan pirates, and Fray Julian Bermejo, OSA of Bolhoon, Southern Cebu who alongside Pedro Kabanlit defeated the Moro invaders at the naval Battle of Sumilon in 1813. It is said the three priests after they died performed miracles, notably during the World War II as we are going to see later.

A statue of Fray Julian Bermejo in Southern Cebu, beside him is a fortress once used to fight Moro invaders.

A Serbian Orthodox priest blessing Milos Obrenovic before fighting Ottoman Turks during Second Serbian uprising

One of the notable military priests of the Napoleonic period was Father Joachim Haspinger, who served as a chaplain for the people of Tyrol who fought against Napoleon and its ally, the Kingdom of Bavaria.

A Franciscan friar leads Carlist soldiers against the liberal army of Queen Isabella, 1837.

As the modernism of the 20^th century dawned, this tradition was still used. One of the early examples is that of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904 to 1905, in which Russian Orthodox priests went to battle with Russian soldiers against the Japanese army.

A Russian Orthodox priest leads Russian troops into battle against the Japanese in 1904

Russian priests again went to war during World War I against the Central Powers, and against the communist Bolsheviks during the Russian Civil War

A Russian priest leads Russian troops into battle against the Austrian army in World War I, circa 1915

Another heroic example is that of Father Ignatius Skorupka, a Polish priest who during the battle of Warsaw in 1920 against the communist Red Army. As he was charging with Polish soldiers against the commies, he was shot and died.

Father Ignatius Skorupka

During World War II in my country, from 1942 to 1945, the Japanese invaded the Philippines. Following the example of the medieval priests that fought with soldiers during war, many priests in the Philippines took up arms. The rector of Ateneo de Cagayan (now Xavier University) Father Haggerty, SJ served as a chaplain to guerillas and was called ‘’Guerilla Padre’’. In Cebu, Father Tomas Borces, the parish priest of San Francisco Church in Balamban preached a crusade against the Japanese. My grandfather recalled that he once saw Father Borces charge with the guerillas against the Japanese in 1942.

Father Tomas Borces

Both my maternal and paternal grandparents experienced the same. In Surigao, my maternal grandmother was said to have seen a Spanish priest charge with guerillas against the Japanese, as was her mother. It was later revealed after the war that it was a miraculous intervention. The priest was none other than Padre Jose Ducos, SJ, an 18^th century Jesuit priest who fought against Moro pirates.

In Carcar, Cebu (the hometown of Bishop Teofilio Camomot, a bishop beloved in Cebu), my paternal grandmother is reported to have seen Fray Julian Bermejo charge with guerillas against the Japanese, and she even attended mass with him.

After the modernist Vatican II council, the militancy of Catholicism was dumped, however, there are a few who preserve it.

In 2022, during the Russia-Ukraine War, this medieval tradition was revived again, with Russian priests appearing at the front with Russian soldiers. One example is Father Peter Gritsenko, a priest from Donbass who serves as a chaplain for Russian soldiers fighting Ukraine.

A priest blesses Russian troops, Russia Ukraine War, 2022.

Conclusion:

In the Novus Ordo church, you can see its members proclaiming ‘’No to War! Peace and Love!’’. Even ‘’Pope’’ Prevost even calls for an end to all wars. This is plain egalitarianism. Jesus said he did not come to bring peace but the sword (Matthew 10: 34 to 36). There is also the Roman saying ‘’If you want peace, prepare for war.’’ Even other religions have the concept of a holy war. In the late 16^th century, Korean Buddhist monks fought against the Japanese, and there are even Chinese Warrior monks like Shaolin and Japanese Warrior monks. In Islam, there is the concept of Jihad or Holy War. Come on and make your mind!

Let us end with this quote from Saint Bernard of Clairvaux on Holy War.

‘’ The knights of Christ can fight the battles of their Lord with complete tranquility of conscience, fearing neither sin if they kill the enemy, nor the danger of being killed themselves. For to inflict death or to suffer death for Christ has nothing criminal about it, but rather brings an abundant claim to glory.

Certainly, pagans should not be killed if there is any other way to prevent them from oppressing and persecuting the faithful. But it is much better to kill them than to have the just ones forever under the yoke of the wicked, and bending their knees to the iniquity of the pagans.’’