Hegseth Holds Protestant-Only Religious Service at Pentagon
Source: MEDIAite
Apr 3rd, 2026, 5:51 pm
According to a Friday report from HuffPost, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseths Pentagon held a Protestant-only Good Friday service at its in-house chapel, with no Catholic Mass scheduled for one of Christianitys holiest days. The setup, which excludes a Catholic service for the first time, drew frustration from at least one Pentagon employee after an internal email made the arrangement explicit.
Just a friendly reminder: There will be a Protestant Service (No Catholic Mass) for Good Friday today at the Pentagon Chapel, read a Friday email sent by Air Force leadership, according to a copy shared with HuffPosts Jennifer Bendery. I guess so the Catholics know their kind aint welcome, one employee said anonymously to HuffPost in response to the message. Its so ridiculous.
A Pentagon spokesperson confirmed the chapel would host no separate Catholic service.The Protestant service is the only service scheduled in the Pentagon chapel today, the spokesperson said in a statement.
The Pentagon Memorial Chapel serves as a worship and reflection space for employees of all faiths and regularly hosts religious services. The decision not to hold a Catholic observance on Good Friday stands out given the makeup of the U.S. military, where roughly a quarter of service members identify as Catholic.
Read more: https://www.mediaite.com/media/news/hegseth-holds-protestant-only-religious-service-at-pentagon/
Hope the 5 RW SCOTUS Catholics (1 former) are happy. And of all days.
Lovie777
(23,014 posts)wnylib
(26,054 posts)area51
(12,696 posts)Raven123
(7,821 posts)Deuxcents
(26,969 posts)wnylib
(26,054 posts)montanacowboy
(6,715 posts)that is in response to the Pope's shitting all over dear leader
oasis
(53,701 posts)consequences if you diss his boss.
Raven123
(7,821 posts)rpannier
(24,928 posts)The dingus from the Catholic League is another matter
Baitball Blogger
(52,375 posts)returns to its proper axis?
jls4561
(3,136 posts)Or a butt of malmsey.
ForgoTheConsequence
(5,188 posts)That being said, Catholics don't celebrate Mass on Good Friday. It's not allowed.
BarbD
(1,444 posts)I've been an ex-catholic for almost 60 years -- I'm now 88.
drray23
(8,792 posts)RockRaven
(19,406 posts)you are referring to is likely either the Stations of the Cross or the Three Hours' Agony.
But there is a Mass-like liturgy service as well, which can be performed at several different times (morning, midday, evening, etc) depending on the parish. That is functionally a Mass (there are readings and prayers and Holy Communion) and would look so to anyone not steeped in Catholic doctrine and practice, but technically not a Mass since consecration of the Eucharist is omitted -- and that few minutes of the service is what defines a Mass. Instead sufficient surplus Eucharist has been consecrated on Thursday to last the parish through until Easter morning. Still, it is a Mass-like event with a congregation and a priest in a church, with reading and prayers and Communion, lasting a normal-ish Mass-time.
rustbeltvoice
(485 posts)From the end of Holy Thursday's Mass to Paschal Vigil Mass (Saturday night) there is no Mass, or it is said that the Thursday Mass does not end until the Easter Vigil Mass.
There can be a few different services on Friday, including the "Mass" of the pre-sanctified Hosts, but no actual Mass. But yeah, the crazy Protestants like Hegseth hates Catholics, moreso than atheists. And of course, this also is pettiness towards Pope Leo, and an insult to Catholics; but hey, that is part of the programme.
I see someone mentioned the present vice-president. His "Catholicism" is very suspect, and if it is a choice about being a repuke or a Christian, it will always be as a repuke rebuking Catholic Christianity.
IronLionZion
(51,289 posts)Sounds like a snub towards Catholic service members on Good Friday because of the Pope.
The last Pope met JD and decided to go straight to God to deal with this unspeakable evil plaguing the world.
TygrBright
(21,364 posts)twodogsbarking
(18,822 posts)wolfie001
(7,692 posts)POS
littlemissmartypants
(33,755 posts)Description
The Violent Take It By Force: The Christian by Matthew D. Taylor · Audiobook preview
The Violent Take It By Force: The Christian Movement That Is Threatening Our Democracy
Authored by Matthew D. Taylor
Narrated by Asa Siegel
0:00 Intro
0:03 Copyright
1:46 Introduction
35:03 Chapter 1. A Televangelist in the White House
1:07:29 Outro
#matthewdtaylor #theviolenttakeitbyforcethechristianmovementthatisthreateningourdemocracy
spudspud
(651 posts)he leaves (?) office.
Skittles
(171,745 posts)keep that fucking crap in church
whathehell
(30,473 posts)Separation of Church and State, that support doesn't, and in keeping with its own rules, shouldn't entail gratuitously insulting a particular faith or religion in general...Keep that fucking crap in the Atheists forum.
Skittles
(171,745 posts)religion does more to divide people than ANYTHING else on earth
whathehell
(30,473 posts)FUCK atheism
Are we 'even' now?
Skittles
(171,745 posts)I have NEVER claimed to be an ATHEIST
FUCK RELIGION
whathehell
(30,473 posts)FUCK RELIGION FUCKING!
Skittles
(171,745 posts)FUCK FUCKING RELIGION
over and OUT
OGBuzz
(326 posts)BarbD
(1,444 posts)OGBuzz
(326 posts)Armageddon and End Times theology, Protestants and Evangelicals are among them. The same people that elected Trump. Hegseth has a giant Crusader cross tattooed on his chest, and 'Deus Vult', the Crusader battle cry, tattooed on his bicep.
RockRaven
(19,406 posts)if (IF!) it comes from someone trying to justify this move. The speaker's purpose matters when deciding how to respond to such a statement -- it could also be said by somebody being pedantic for the purpose of clarity in discussion, or by a well meaning person passing on what they have heard/read even though it is misleading and readily misused to ill purpose.
Unless you are well versed or deeply invested in Christian theology, the matter is one of those distinctions without a difference. Your little old lady neighbor who goes to 8AM Mass seven days a week is still going to her church on Good Friday morning. And if you went with her on that Good Friday morning, and you were not a practicing Catholic, you'd probably not spot that it wasn't technically a Mass.
It's like someone saying that I didn't cook dinner tonight because I prepared a Cobb salad.
Jack Valentino
(5,053 posts)msongs
(73,766 posts)and marching bands and choirs. if they're not killing they gotta go
BlueWaveNeverEnd
(14,287 posts)Deuxcents
(26,969 posts)BlueWaveNeverEnd
(14,287 posts)fat, bearded, female, non white, not protestant... this church aint for you.
BumRushDaShow
(169,909 posts)by some evangelical for his vainglorious and sacrilegious use of tattoos. And I won't even get into what the no drinking, no dancing, no card-playing groups might think.
AZLD4Candidate
(6,788 posts)Wednesday was the start of Passover (which was the Last Supper Jesus ate) and I doubt he noticed, knew, or cared.
Why not just adopt the colony of Maryland's law that anyone that didn't worship Jesus was guilty of treason and could be executed, but also add a rider saying that if the leader of a religion that worships Jesus is in another country, they get sentenced to life at hard labor until they see the error of their ways?
Wait. . .didn't that already happen once someplace between 1932-1945?
BlueWavePsych
(3,351 posts)

RedWhiteBlueIsRacist
(2,047 posts)LetMyPeopleVote
(179,976 posts)Hegseth like all true KKK members is also anti-Catholic
Many people don't realize that the second iteration of the Ku Klux Klan (in the 1920s) was more anti-Catholic than anti-Black.
— Mrs. Betty Bowers (@mrsbettybowers.bsky.social) 2026-04-03T18:30:15.660Z
So this tracks.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/news-live-updates_n_69ca6616e4b0128a9ef83bad/liveblog_69cfef6ce4b0d214cc7139b5
Just a friendly reminder: There will be a Protestant Service (No Catholic Mass) for Good Friday today at the Pentagon Chapel, reads a Friday email sent by Air Force leadership, a copy of which was shared by an employee.
I guess so the Catholics know their kind aint welcome, said this employee, who requested anonymity to speak about internal communications. Its so ridiculous.
A Pentagon spokesperson confirmed it is not hosting another, separate religious service for Catholic employees.
The Protestant service is the only service scheduled in the Pentagon chapel today, they said in a statement....
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, a far-right evangelical Christian, has tried to infuse his religious views into Pentagon activities.