Fighting for the Chaplains: Bishop Charles Leo Nelligan and the Creation of the Canadian Chaplain Service (Roman Catholic), 1939-1945 (1)‪.‬

Since his appointment as Canada's principal chaplain (Roman Catholic) during the Second World War, Bishop Charles Leo Nelligan worked tirelessly to ensure that all Catholics serving in Canada's armed forces overseas and on the home front continued to have access to the sacraments. This article is an initial venture into the story of Bishop Nelligan and his role as principal chaplain (Roman Catholic) within the Canadian Armed Forces. The author chronicles Nelligan's efforts to secure a separate but equal Catholic military chaplain service and to recruit priests for military duty, an increasingly pressing need as the war progressed. The author also examines Nelligan's activities regarding two issues that pitted the Catholic Church against the Canadian military." the distribution of condoms to military personnel and the military's reluctance to build chapels on bases in Canada and overseas. Des sa nomination a titre d'aumonier principal (catholique romain) du Canada au cours de la Seconde Guerre mondiale, monseigneur Charles Leo Nelligan travailla sans relache afin d'assurer l'acces aux sacrements a tous les militaires catholiques canadiens, tant a l'etranger qu'au Canada. Cet article constitue une premiere tentative pour connaitre la nature exacte de la contribution de Mgr Nelligan comme aumonier principal de l'Armee canadienne. L'auteur examine plus precisement les efforts de Nelligan pour assurer la creation d'une aumonerie militaire catholique distincte et pour recruter des clercs pour le service militaire, un besoin qui devint de plus en plus urgent a mesure que la guerre se deroulait. L'auteur se penche egalement sur la reaction de Mgr Nelligan concernant deux sujets qui diviserent l'eglise catholique et l'Armee canadienne : la distribution de condoms aux militaires et la reticence des autorites militaires a construire des chapelles sur les bases militaires canadiennes, au Canada et outre-mer.