Because references to God are now banned at military functions, there will be no prayer during Remembrance Day ceremonies in November, Canada’s defense minister recently confirmed.
A military chaplain who wishes to remain anonymous and will be referred to here as John told LifeSiteNews the policy is a “big historical shift for our country.”
Before the anti-religious policy began to be “slowly rolled out” in 2023, chaplains of various religions would alternate reciting prayers during public military functions such as before dinner or during a change of command. Christian chaplains, Muslim chaplains, Buddhist chaplains, and more – “the whole spectrum” – would take turns praying aloud during the gatherings.
The military has now replaced this convention with a secular “spiritual reflection” policy during which there can be “no mention of God, no mention of the sacred. And instead we can offer words of inspiration in a completely secular manner,” John told LifeSiteNews.
A 2023 Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) directive stated that chaplains’ reflections at public military functions must be “inclusive” and “must ensure that attendees are reasonably able to identify with the words being uttered,” whether they are “religious, spiritual, agnostic, [or] atheist).”
A new CAF directive issued in July more explicitly bans any mention of God or the use of religious language during public events.
“Spiritual reflections do not use a particular religious language, including references to God, etc,” the new policy states.
While chaplains can still conduct their own religious services and private religious counseling, they cannot pray at any gathering of the armed forces or can anyone else.
“Basically, this policy is the end of religion in the public square, the cancellation of religion;” John remarked.
The military chaplain pointed out that despite the policy’s insistence that spiritual reflections do not reference God or religion, it paradoxically allows for the inclusion of “aboriginal practices” that “contain spiritual elements.”
“There’s an unusual caveat in the new policy, which is pretty egregious, in the sense that it allows First Nation spirituality to be practiced,” John noted.
“From a spiritual perspective, it’s interesting because they’re abolishing faith in God, but on the other hand, they’re promoting a syncretistic religion. Whereas monotheism is forbidden in the public space. It’s a very peculiar and alarming development,” he added.
The 2026 CAF policy states that “Indigenous practices may be included in military contexts for cultural, historical and educational purposes,” and that “when incorporated into military events or ceremonies, Aboriginal practices, some of which contain spiritual elements, must be adapted to the occasion and clearly fit into an educational and cultural context.”
“Their inclusion supports reconciliation goals and efforts to strengthen relations between CAF members and Aboriginal peoples,” the policy added.
Already, John said, First Nation Native Americans have “offered their own prayers quite a bit” during military functions and have even “offered smudging ceremonies,” which are pagan rituals.
John ripped the policy not only as an injustice but as “absurd” and counterproductive to the military’s goals.
“Our leadership has bent over backwards in the name of inclusion and diversity to eliminate prayer from the chaplaincy. Which to my mind is completely absurd, it makes no sense. It’s antithetical to what we do,” he told LifeSiteNews.
“I don’t think it’s practical because from a military perspective, if you’re a solider and faith is what gives you your meaning and your purpose and your strength. We’re doing our soldiers a disservice by removing prayer from the role of the chaplain.”
He maintains that it is even in the interest of an atheist soldier to allow for prayer during military functions because that atheist depends on the support of his fellow service members, and many of them will consciously need prayer “to strengthen them, to motivate them, to support them spiritually.”
Asked how the military are responding to this policy, John said, “Morale is really low.”
“When you talk to military members, they’re sick and tired of this steamrolling, of this woke progressive ideology. Everyone’s afraid to speak out because this is enshrined and we can face military consequences for offering prayer,” he stressed.
When he “signed the contract” to become a military chaplain, “the rules of the game were completely different,” John pointed out.
“The institution you signed up for is no longer the same institution today. If I had known I wouldn’t be allowed to pray as a chaplain, it would have been a totally different calculation.”
Zooming out to comment on the big-picture trajectory of Canada, John pointed out that the country has been “pushing diversity for a long time” but has now reached a point of shifting to “militant radical secularism.”
“Which is bizarre because it’s so anti-diversity,” he noted. “It goes back to what Pope Benedict called the dictatorship of relativism.”
Looking forward to Remembrance Day, John wondered about the best path for chaplains to take.
“Do we quietly disappear or do we fight back? Do we resist? Is non-compliance a path forward as well? If we pray on Remembrance Day, we become white martyrs. Who knows. Each individual chaplain is going to have to search their own conscience and figure out how to respond.”