WASHINGTON, DC \u2013 Fresh from a Christmas pastoral visit with U.S. Military personnel in the Horn of Africa and the Gulf Region of the Middle East, His Excellency, the Most Reverend\u00a0Timothy P. Broglio<\/a>, J.C.D., Archbishop for the Military Services, was back in the Nation\u2019s Capital on Thursday, Jan. 2, to welcome cadets, midshipmen, and others to\u00a0SEEK25<\/a>, a faith-building conference for college students held each year by the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS). This year, for the first time, the SEEK Conference was held simultaneously Jan. 1-5 in two locations. More than seventeen-thousand students and parishioners attended in\u00a0Salt Lake City<\/a>, UT, while over 3,000 participated in\u00a0Washington<\/a>. Following a whirlwind tour visiting troops, military chaplains, and senior officers in Djibouti,\u00a0Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Jordan, Archbishop Broglio returned to America just in time to participate in the DC setting of the two-site Conference.<\/p>\n Reflecting on the event, Archbishop Broglio said, \u201dIt is always energizing to spend time with young men and women on fire with their faith.\u00a0 The presentations are excellent, but even more exciting is the eagerness and faith-filled response of the attendees.\u00a0 I was also pleased to see so many from the military academies and ROTC present at the event,\u201d<\/p>\n Mark Moitoza, Th.D, D.Min., Vice-Chancellor for\u00a0Evangelization<\/a>\u00a0of the\u00a0Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA<\/a>\u00a0(AMS), led AMS participation in Salt Lake. Dr. Moitoza commented, \u201cHaving two locations for SEEK this year presented unique challenges. Coordinating presenters at both locations, however, was important. Gathering participants from the academies along with ROTC cadets affords future leaders in the military the opportunity to recognize the need for drawing strength from the Catholic faith to be effective in their service. Both gatherings shared the need for priests in all branches of the military. Many follow-up conversations ensued. The annual SEEK conference provides hope as many young people spend five days praying and being enriched by keynotes, workshops, adoration, confession, and daily Mass.\u201d He added, \u201cThese are long but productive days full of conversations with eager young people seeking ways to live out the faith through witness and service.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n At the\u00a0Washington Hilton<\/a>\u00a0on Friday, 160 SEEK participants including cadets from the\u00a0U.S. Military Academy<\/a>\u00a0at West Point, NY, the\u00a0Coast Guard Academy<\/a>\u00a0at New London, CT, and\u00a0Reserve Officers\u2019 Training Corps<\/a>\u00a0(ROTC) programs on East Coast college campuses, along with midshipmen from the\u00a0U.S. Naval Academy<\/a>\u00a0in Annapolis, MD, were personally welcomed by Archbishop Broglio. Retired U.S. Army Chaplain and West Point alumnus Father\u00a0Matthew P. Pawlikowski<\/a>, CH (COL), USA (Ret.), currently serving at West Point, offered insights and fielded questions on the practice of faith in military life. Drawing on his 20-year experience as an active-duty Army chaplain, Father Pawlikowski reflected on how to live the Catholic faith among a diverse military population while meeting the high demands of military service. Ms. McKenzie Mauss, AMS Associate Director for Missionary Discipleship,\u00a0invited young people to consider joining\u00a0Team Saint Paul<\/a>, a fast-growing group of laymen and women assigned by the AMS to support chaplains in\u00a0young adult ministry<\/a>.<\/p>\n Just two hours later, the AMS hosted a similar gathering at the\u00a0Salt Palace Convention Center<\/a>\u00a0in Salt Lake City with more than 130 participants, including cadets from the\u00a0U.S. Air Force Academy<\/a>\u00a0in Colorado Spring, CO, ROTC cadets enrolled at colleges and universities throughout the Western United States, and others interested in learning about living the Catholic faith in the military. Father\u00a0Marcel Taillon<\/a>, former AMS Vocations Director, led the opening prayer and explained the AMS mission,\u00a0Serving Those Who Serve<\/a><\/em>. Three of the U.S. Defense Department\u2019s chaplain recruiters, one each from the Navy, Army, and Air Force\u2014Fathers\u00a0David J. Hammond<\/a>,\u00a0CHC, LCDR, USN,\u00a0Jeffrey A. Paveglio<\/a>, CH (CPT), USA, and\u00a0Nicholas J. Reid<\/a>, Ch Capt USAF\u2014shared thoughts on the importance of having priests serve Catholics in all branches of the military.<\/p>\n The AMS hosted an exhibit booth in Salt Lake to raise awareness of the AMS mission, encourage priests and seminarians to consider the \u201cvocation with a vocation\u201d of military chaplaincy, and invite those discerning a vocation to think about seeking enrollment the\u00a0Co-Sponsored Seminarian Program<\/a>\u2014each in partnership with his home diocese or religious community and the AMS\u2014and welcome lay people to explore joining\u00a0Team Saint Paul<\/a>\u00a0to serve in a faith support role on a military installation.\u00a0Father\u00a0Peter Pomposello<\/a>, CH (MAJ) USA, affectionately known as \u201cFather Uncle Sam<\/a>\u201d for his prodigious influence on young men discerning priesthood and military chaplaincy, came all the way to Salt Lake from his duty station at\u00a0Fort Liberty<\/a>, NC, where he serves as the senior chaplain, to assist at the AMS exhibit booth.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n During a half-hour presentation, Father Pomposello also strongly encouraged SEEK participants to consider joining\u00a0Team Saint Paul<\/a>.\u00a0He shared his desire to have at least four team members assigned to the large Army post where he serves. Mr. Dominic Counihan,\u00a0a co-sponsored seminarian<\/a>, spoke of the dire need for more priests in the military, where Catholic chaplains are in chronically short supply.\u00a0The presentation was followed by a question-answer session.\u00a0Father Paul Halladay<\/a>, CH (MAJ), USA (Ret.), led the closing prayer on the same day Archbishop Broglio named him the\u00a0new AMS Director of Vocations<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" WASHINGTON, DC \u2013 Fresh from a Christmas pastoral visit with U.S. Military personnel in the Horn of Africa and the Gulf Region of the Middle East, His Excellency, the Most Reverend\u00a0Timothy P. Broglio, J.C.D., Archbishop for the Military Services, was back in the Nation\u2019s Capital on Thursday, Jan. 2, to welcome cadets, midshipmen, and others […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4296,"featured_media":4085,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[311,1914,2096],"class_list":["post-4082","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-catholic","tag-military","tag-seek-conference"],"yoast_head":"\n