Hegseth announces 'Office of Religious Affairs' in speech on Pentagon policy – ncronline.org

Hegseth announces ‘Office of Religious Affairs’ in speech on Pentagon policy  ncronline.org

A statement from the Department of Defense said it "is elevating spiritual readiness as a core element of combat effectiveness with the establishment of the Office of Religious Affairs …" U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks during a news conference at the White House in Washington April 6, 2026. (OSV News/Reuters/Evan Vucci) Send your thoughts to Letters to the Editor. Learn more Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced the creation of a new "Office of Religious Affairs" during a speech Sept. 30 on Pentagon policy. Hegseth — who uses the moniker "secretary of war" since Trump signed an executive order last year adding the "Department of War" as a secondary, ceremonial title for the Department of Defense — announced the new office during a speech at U.S.

Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia. "The experts, our chaplains, will finally have an advocate at the highest levels," Hegseth said. "Policy and resources will serve the mission, not smother the mission." Elsewhere in the speech, Hegseth also announced the "Autonomous Warfare Command," an effort to develop autonomous capabilities across the military. Catholic leaders, particularly Pope Leo XIV, have warned against the creation of autonomous weapons. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, in a backgrounder on Pope Leo's encyclical "Magnifica Humanitas," said the rise of these systems marked a "grave development of