Pentagon To Host Good Friday Service Just For Protestants, Not Catholics

[LetMyPeopleVote]

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.

So this tracks.

— Mrs. Betty Bowers (@mrsbettybowers.bsky.social) 2026-04-03T18:30:15.660Z

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/news-live-updates_n_69ca6616e4b0128a9ef83bad/liveblog_69cfef6ce4b0d214cc7139b5

The Pentagon has invited more than 3,500 employees to attend a Good Friday service at its in-house chapel. Except it’s only for Protestants, not Catholics.

“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 ain’t welcome,” said this employee, who requested anonymity to speak about internal communications. “It’s 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.

[musette_sf]

1. Okay, so technically / ecclesiastically

Catholics do not attend Mass on Good Friday -there is no Mass on Good Friday and we make the Stations of the Cross instead. And Protestants customarily do have a Good Friday service. I grew up Catholic, and sang in some Protestant church choirs as a young adult, so I can speak to this with some knowledge.

But yeah, it’s not a good look.

[RockRaven]

5. Catholics still have services on Good Friday, however, it is only technically not a Mass

because the Eucharist is not consecrated during the service. But there IS a service, including Liturgy of the Word and Holy Communion (with Eucharist which was consecrated on Thursday).

Source: raised Catholic, attended parochial K-8, was altar boy.


Here is a rundown on Catholic Good Friday services from Wikipedia, note this is separate from the Stations of the Cross service and describes what would be done in place of the usual daily Mass:

The Good Friday liturgy consists of three parts: the Liturgy of the Word, the Veneration of the Cross, and the Holy Communion.


The Liturgy of the Word consists of the clergy and assisting ministers entering in complete silence, without any singing. They then silently make a full prostration. This signifies the abasement (the fall) of (earthly) humans.[75] It also symbolizes the grief and sorrow of the Church.[76] Then follows the Collect prayer, and the reading or chanting of Isaiah 52:13–53:12, Hebrews 4:14–16, Hebrews 5: 7–9, and the Passion account from the Gospel of John, traditionally divided between three deacons,[77] yet usually read by the celebrant and two other readers. In the older form of the Mass known as the Tridentine Mass the readings for Good Friday are taken from Exodus 12:1–11 and the Gospel according to St. John (John 18:1–40); (John 19:1–42).

The Great Intercessions also known as orationes sollemnes immediately follows the Liturgy of the Word and consists of a series of prayers for the Church, the Pope, the clergy and laity of the Church, those preparing for baptism, the unity of Christians, the Jews, those who do not believe in Christ, those who do not believe in God, those in public office, and those in special need.[78] After each prayer intention, the deacon calls the faithful to kneel for a short period of private prayer; the celebrant then sums up the prayer intention with a Collect-style prayer. As part of the pre-1955 Holy Week Liturgy, the kneeling was omitted only for the prayer for the Jews.[79]

The Adoration of the Cross has a crucifix, not necessarily the one that is normally on or near the altar at other times of the year, solemnly unveiled and displayed to the congregation, and then venerated by them, individually if possible and usually by kissing the wood of the cross, while hymns and the Improperia ("Reproaches" ) with the Trisagion hymn are chanted.[80]

Holy Communion is bestowed according to a rite based on that of the final part of Mass, beginning with the Lord's Prayer, but omitting the ceremony of "Breaking of the Bread" and its related acclamation, the Agnus Dei. The Eucharist, consecrated at the evening Mass of the Lord's Supper on Maundy Thursday, is distributed at this service.[81] Before the Holy Week reforms of Pope Pius XII in 1955, only the priest received Communion in the framework of what was called the Mass of the Presanctified, which included the usual Offertory prayers, with the placing of wine in the chalice, but which omitted the Canon of the Mass.[79] The priest and people then depart in silence, and the altar cloth is removed, leaving the altar bare except for the crucifix and two or four candlesticks.[82]

[Retrograde]

10. Nor on Holy Saturday IIRC

the day Good Friday and Easter. And there's no organ or accompanied music, and the statues are all covered. There are no masses on those days, but there are services that specifically refer to the death of Christ, a time to reflect and prepare for the main feast of Catholicism, Easter. I remember the Good Friday services being long.

So just because it's technically not a mass doesn't mean the Pentagon should ignore the rites.

[eShirl]

2. Coup Cucks Clan

Whiskey Pete has got to go.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

3. Trump-Vance White House Escalates Holy Week Assault Against Catholic Church

A judge forced ICE to open the doors. On Holy Thursday, four priests washed the feet of fourteen detained migrants. The next morning, the Pentagon excluded Catholics from Good Friday services.

Link to tweet

https://www.thelettersfromleo.com/p/trump-vance-white-house-escalates

The next morning — Good Friday — the Pentagon sent an email to more than 3,500 employees: “Just a friendly reminder: There will be a Protestant Service (No Catholic Mass) for Good Friday today at the Pentagon Chapel.” A Pentagon spokesperson confirmed it.

When HuffPost’s Jennifer Bendery followed up, a Pentagon spokesperson confirmed: “The Protestant service is the only service scheduled in the Pentagon chapel today.”

No Catholic service of any kind. Catholics do not celebrate Mass on Good Friday — the liturgy for the day is the Celebration of the Lord’s Passion, a solemn rite in which the faithful venerate the crucifix and receive Communion.

Hegseth’s Pentagon offered nothing for them. The Department of Defense hosted a Protestant Good Friday service at the nation’s military headquarters and confirmed that Catholic worship was excluded entirely.

In the span of twenty-four hours, two arms of the Trump administration told the Catholic Church that its worship is either a security threat or simply unwelcome.

[tanyev]

4. They know all the conservative Supreme Court Justices are Catholic, right?

Except the internet tells me Gorsuch was raised Catholic but is now Episcopalian.

Like I said several years ago, if the ultra conservatives ever manage to grab complete control, the next thing will be religious wars as the different factions within the alliance battle for supremacy.

[Diamond_Dog]

6. Oh noes! Will Vance have a sad? He brags about being Catholic

Although there’s a huge gulf between what he actually practices and what he “preaches”.

[Biophilic]

7. Ah, yes, now begin the "new" religious wars.

It’s not just that Christianity, but specific types of Christianity.
It really is beginning to feel like the end of our world. And, once again religion leads the way.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

8. Hegeth's Pentagon SPITS on Catholic soldiers on Good Friday by hosting a Protestants-only chapel service

Link to tweet

This one isn't hard to puzzle out. The Christian Nationalist movement that Hegseth is part of is Evangelical to its core. They view Catholics with something between suspicion and outright hostility. Hegseth previously invited pastor Doug Wilson to lead a prayer service at the Pentagon. Wilson has called for a Christian theocracy in America, suggested that "biblical slavery" might come back under that theocracy, and called for banning Catholic processions.

In this Evangelical vision of a Christian America, Catholic cathedrals are torn down and replaced with golden statues of Trump holding the cross.

This animosity towards Catholics is also rooted in backlash against Pope Leo XIV's outspoken anti-MAGA sentiments. He has repeatedly condemned the cruel treatment of migrants as well as Trump's illegal, bloody Iran War. Many Republicans now view Leo and by extension all Catholics as an enemy.

We stand with Leo and our Catholic soldiers, do you?

[B.See]

9. Betty Bowers: "Many people don't realize that the second iteration of the Ku Klux Klan (in the 1920s) was more

anti-Catholic than anti-Black."

Yes. Anti-Black, anti-Jewish, anti-Catholic.

Like those in Charlottesville who Trump called "very fine people."

(before trying to walk it back).