LONDON, ENGLAND, October 17, 2005: The first Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim and Sikh chaplains to the UK Armed Forces have been appointed, the Under Secretary of State for Defence, Don Touhig announced today. The appointments reflect the diverse nature of personnel serving in the Armed Forces and represent the largest of the non-Christian faith groups. The Chaplains will be fully integrated members of the Armed Forces chaplaincy team providing spiritual, moral and pastoral support to service personnel and their dependents. They will also assist with promoting a greater understanding of their faith within the Armed Forces. Don Touhig, the USofS said: “The Armed Forces attach great importance to supporting the spiritual well-being and development of its personnel. I am confident that the new chaplains will contribute enormously to encouraging and promoting religious understanding and acceptance within the Armed Forces, and that they will provide comfort, support and valuable advice to service personnel”.
The Chaplains have been appointed following a national recruiting campaign earlier this year. Representatives from the relevant faith communities were fully involved in the recruitment and selection process. Under existing long standing historical arrangements the Armed Forces already have a Jewish Honorary Officiating Chaplain. It is expected that in due course a civilian chaplain of the Jewish faith will be recruited. The new Chaplains are currently undergoing their induction and familiarization training. Until this has been completed the Chaplains will not be named or give interviews to the media.
The new chaplains are civil servants, and will be employed on Fixed Term contracts for an initial period of three years. There are approximately 183,000 Christians, 305 Muslims, 230 Hindus, 220 Buddhists and 90 Sikhs (as at July 1, 2005) serving in the Armed Forces. For further information please contact Clive Bull on 020 7218 7954, or Jonathan Turner on 0207 218 4083. Alternatively, you can contact the MOD news service by e-mail: press@dgics.mod,ok. The Mod’s on-line news service, UK Defence Today, may be found here.
The Ministry of Defense appointed the Hindu Council UK as the Endorsing Authority for Hindu Chaplains.