O’Callahan was serving as chaplain on the USS Franklin in March of 1945 when an enemy aircraft dropped two bombs that badly damaged the ship.
He would soon see more adventure than he could have imagined. But faith can give a man courage and perseverance beyond human understanding, so in 1940 he left the quiet halls and libraries of academic life for a bold new adventure in the Chaplain Corps of the U.S. When World War II began, O’Callahan was 36 and nearsighted, with a bad case of claustrophobia and high blood pressure-an unlikely candidate for military service, much less for heroic valor. Before the war, he worked as a college professor, teaching philosophy and mathematics at Boston College and College of the Holy Cross. Cmdr Joseph Timothy O’Callahanįather O’Callahan was a Jesuit priest who served as a United States Navy chaplain during World War II, and was both the first Catholic priest and the first naval chaplain to earn the Medal of Honor. Of those nine heroic chaplains, these five were Catholic priests. This medal is the nation’s highest and most prestigious military decoration for valor. Yet even in facing the worst of times, a number of military chaplains have shown extraordinary courage and strength of character-so much so that nine chaplains have been awarded the Medal of Honor over the decades. Serving as a military chaplain is a noble calling, but can be challenging work even in the best of times. Through their words and actions, they provide comfort and strength through the Word of God and the sacraments to those who serve to protect our Nation. Chaplains provide pastoral care through guidance, education, direction on Church doctrine, and spiritual counsel. Military service requires extraordinary sacrifices of those who serve and their families. They go wherever their people are-in a tent in the desert, on the deck of an aircraft carrier, in the barracks on base, in a combat zone, in the halls of the Pentagon. As their website explains, The work of chaplains is not confined to the chapel. Yet this “diocese without borders” does vital work in ministering to Catholic military personnel and their families. The Archdiocese for the Military Services has been called “the biggest diocese with the fewest priests,” as the number of Catholics serving in the military far outstrips the proportion of Catholic chaplains. military's most prestigious personal military decoration has been awarded to these heroic Catholic chaplains.