SW News: A group of Republican Congress members has demanded answers from the Biden administration on Walter Reed National Military Medical Center’s order to Catholic priests asking them to terminate pastoral care during Holy Week. In a letter dated April 11 and addressed to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, the Republican Congress members posed particularly six questions directed towards finding the nature and intent of the order issued.


The Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre sent a "cease and desist" letter to the Holy Name College Friary, a group of Franciscan priests, on April 4. The same group of priests had been serving at Walter Reed for almost 20 years. As per the order, Catholic priests were directed to halt pastoral services at the hospital ahead of the Church's commemoration of the days of the Holy Week.
"Forcing priests to stop providing care during Holy Week is not only morally wrong, but also a violation of the First Amendment," the members of Congress wrote.


On a concluding note, they said, "This attack on the Christian faith by the Biden Administration during Holy Week is unconscionable."


The signatories include Mary Miller, Jim Banks, and Marjorie Taylor Greene. In the letter, the Republican members of Congress have asked Defense Secretary Austin to provide answers to their questions "no later than April 21st."