However, the Eastern Catholic priests must maintain bi-ritual faculties and be able to celebrate the sacraments in the ordinary form of the Roman Rite.

In the United States, military chaplains have an officer's rank based on their years of service and promotion selection from among their peers.

[1] During the 19th century, individual Catholic priests ministered to American soldiers and sailors during wartime without any central organizational structure.

To prevent confusion among these priests over jurisdiction, Pope Benedict XV in November 1917 erected a military diocese of the US armed forces.

[5] Hayes was chosen because New York was the primary port of embarkation for U.S. troops leaving for France and was therefore a convenient contact point for Catholic chaplains serving with them.

During World War II and later, Spellman spent many Christmases with American troops in Japan, South Korea and Europe.

In 1968, a month after being named archbishop of New York by Pope Paul VI, Terence Cooke also became the next head of the military diocese.

[12] In 1993, Dimino expressed his opposition to allowing LBGTQ+ persons to serve in the military to President Bill Clinton, saying that admitting gay men would have "disastrous consequences for all concerned.

[14] John Paul II named Auxiliary Bishop Edwin O'Brien of New York, a veteran of the US Army Chaplain Corps, as a coadjutor archbishop in 1997 to assist Dimino.

[16] In 2006, O'Brien noted that declining public support for the Iraq War was leading to a decrease in morale among the troops, adding, "The news only shows cars being blown up, but the soldiers see hospitals being built and schools opening.

"[17] By 2007, he believed that the status of US operations in Iraq "compels an assessment of our current circumstances and the continuing obligation of the Church to provide a moral framework for public discussion.

[24] The Archdiocese for the Military Services is the only U.S. diocese without a cathedral, but celebrates its major functions at the nearby Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, several blocks to the west.

[27][25] In 2005, Reverend Gregory Arflack was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting three US Marines in Qatar.

[28] In 1991, Reverend Thomas Chleboski, an Air Force chaplain, pled guilty to five counts of molesting a 13-year-old boy in 1989 and received a 20-year prison sentence.

[25][32] In April 2019, Colonel Arthur Perrault, an Air Force chaplain, was convicted of sexually abusing an altar boy.

[30][34] Reverend Neal Destefano with the US Navy Chaplain Corps was convicted in 1994 of sexually molesting two unconscious Marines after plying them with alcohol.