Father P.J. Brandimarti, the administrator at Johnstown Church of the Ascension, always knew he wanted to serve. He first thought of serving in the military and then the priesthood.

“I guess I’m attracted to uniforms,” he said jokingly.

An injury in high school prevented him from receiving a Naval Reserve Officers’ Training Corps scholarship. He considered the idea of being a Navy chaplain, but he then put his thoughts of the military to the side. Years later, in 2019, Father Brandimarti was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Columbus.

While he had previously considered Navy chaplaincy, by the time of his ordination, he said, he no longer thought about it. In his 30s, he figured his age or physique would not make the cut.

However, an email he received a few years ago changed what he thought was no longer a possibility. Bishop Robert Brennan, then the bishop of Columbus, emailed diocesan priests about an opportunity to serve as a chaplain in the Ohio Army National Guard.

Father Brandimarti seized the opportunity and responded to the bishop’s email immediately. After approximately two years of preparation, he was commissioned in August 2023.

Now, he is celebrating one year as a chaplain.

His commissioning also calls for celebration in the Diocese of Columbus. Father Brandimarti is the first Catholic chaplain to be commissioned by the Ohio Army National Guard since the 1990s.

“It’s an honor that Bishop (Earl) Fernandes allows me to serve, and hopefully, more priests will receive that call because it’s a vocation within a vocation,” he said.

Military chaplains are put through training similar to soldiers. Photo courtesy Army National Guard

As a commissioned chaplain, Father Brandimarti meets with soldiers about one weekend a month. He travels to various bases in Ohio, meeting Catholic soldiers and those of other faiths, answering their questions and offering the sacraments of reconciliation and the Eucharist to as many individuals as possible.

Soldiers in the National Guard commit to one weekend a month and two weeks a year. During their two weeks a year, Father Brandimarti travels to various locations, he said, instead of traveling with a single unit, so he can bring the sacraments to as many people as possible.

He said it is important that soldiers have opportunities to receive the sacraments, and as a chaplain, to get to know them on a spiritual level, as a parish priest would.

“I can testify that soldiers are unique,” Father Brandimarti said. “They have unique needs. The vast majority of the people that I’ve interacted with are in their early 20s, and they’ve chosen to serve our nation. 

“Those type of people are the people who we are going to need in the Church. They are people who are dedicated; they are there for an idea that’s bigger than themselves; they are sacrificing, and if those aren’t Christian values, then I don’t know what are. 

“To not give them the spiritual things that they need, especially at that young age, especially when they’re being pulled to every other thing in the world, having a priest, having a chaplain available to them is so important.”

Not having a Catholic chaplain in the Army National Guard, Father Brandimarti said, can present challenges. A priest would need to be brought in if soldiers were overseas, or a priest would be requested off the chain of command. Sometimes, the National Guard would bus soldiers out to a parish in the middle of training, which could include hours of transportation time in addition to an hourlong celebration of the Mass. 

For such reasons, many soldiers were hesitant to take advantage of the opportunity, he said, because it could be looked down upon. 

Now, after approximately 20 years without a Catholic chaplain, soldiers in the Ohio Army National Guard do not need to leave training to receive the sacraments. They have Father Brandimarti alongside them.

Of those in the Ohio National Guard who profess a faith, he said, a quarter are Catholic. Nineteen chaplains serve in Ohio, and aside from Father Brandimarti, all are practicing Christians but not Catholic. 

He is praying that more priests will discern a call. In addition to a need for vocations to the priesthood, he said, there is a need for vocations to the chaplaincy. 

“I really feel that I have a vocation not only to serve the people that I’ve been entrusted with but also to serve our soldiers,” he said. “One of the things that I’m trying to do is encourage other priests to pray about that because a lot of us have prayed about, do we want to be a pastor? Do we want to be a hospital chaplain? Where’s our heart? Where does the joy from our ministry come from?

“For me, the National Guard is perfect because I get to be in a parish, I get to know and love my parishioners, but I also get to be a soldier, and I get to care for soldiers and serve soldiers.” 

Ohio has 120 Army Guard units that occupy 42 training sites and readiness centers throughout 36 Ohio counties. Many units work out of the Defense Supply Center, one of the larger bases, located in Whitehall. Father Brandimarti spends much of his time at the base.

Unlike the U.S. Army Reserves, which is usually non-combat, he said, and reports to the president of the United States, the National Guard are combat units and work for the governor of the state. The Ohio Army National Guard includes four major brigades, or military units, of soldiers: infantry, air defense artillery, engineering and sustainment.

“Maintaining that strength allows us to live in security, and it allows us to continue to enjoy all the beautiful things that we have and all the blessings we have in this country, while also protecting other nations,” Father Brandimarti said. “That’s a hard job, and it requires people being away from family and friends.

“The National Guard can be caught up at any moment. If something happens, I, and every other soldier in the Ohio Guard, can be activated and pulled out, and that can be a shocking experience. Making sure that we have spiritual support, especially Catholic support, to our soldiers and to our Catholic soldiers is vital.”

Being the only Catholic chaplain in Ohio can be a sacrifice. Father Brandimarti travels to bases located across Ohio to serve all soldiers in the National Guard. He recognizes that being a chaplain is a sacrifice for those back home, too.

“I’m very thankful to Bishop (Fernandes) for letting me do this,” he said. “We have trouble finding priests, and he’s allowed me to possibly be sent overseas if something happens, and that’s a sacrifice for me. It’s also a sacrifice for the parish I’m assigned to and for the diocese.”

During the weekend he spends with soldiers every month, he said, “all day” for the U.S. Army is about 5 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday. The schedule enables him to return in time to celebrate a vigil Mass at his parish. On Sundays, he can celebrate the 8:30 a.m. Mass before driving to an Army base and celebrating Mass for soldiers there.

During weekend training, a soldier’s responsibilities can consist of driving trucks, cooking, manning radios or watching out for biological and chemical weapons. Father Brandimarti said it is his job to support the soldiers.

“The ministry of presence is really, really valuable,” he said. 

Often, he will personally invite soldiers to the chapel for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

A chaplain might be the first practicing Christian a soldier encounters. Many conversations arise, Father Brandimarti said, from simply telling soldiers that he is a chaplain and a Catholic priest.

“That just opens the door to so many questions,” he said. “I can’t tell you how many people now call – or email – my Army number and just say, ‘Hey, Chaplain, tell me about this. What’s this?’

“I would say that’s most of what I do as a chaplain now. It’s not what I do on the weekends. It’s the random phone calls and emails I get throughout the month of, ‘I’m interested in becoming Catholic. I’m interested in this. My grandma’s Catholic. Why do you guys do that?’”

Being a chaplain can also come with challenges.

Casualty notifications are difficult, Father Brandimarti said. Chaplains accompany officers to notify families of a soldier’s death. The challenge can be similar to his responsibilities as a priest, helping individuals through death or the loss of a loved one.

“The things that are hard about being a priest are the same things that are hard about being a chaplain,” he said. “In both ways, the Holy Spirit really gives you the strength to be there because it’s not about you. It’s about the person you’re serving.”

Father Brandimarti said he recognizes parallels between the Church and the Army, as well as similarities between being a soldier and a Catholic. He noted that many of the saints were soldiers. Some, such as St. Sebastian, the patron saint of soldiers, were martyrs.

“There are great rewards that are present but a lot of people may not see as a reward,” he said. “That calling to service, that calling to serve ideals that are higher than yourself, that calling, possibly, to give up your life – not only parts of your freedom, but literally give up your life for the greater good – are present both as a priest, as a Christian, but also a soldier.”

To become a chaplain, Father Brandimarti completed approximately three months of training that  began in January 2024. He trained at the U.S. Army’s chaplain center in Fort Jackson, South Carolina with individuals from across the country preparing to be chaplains for the U.S. Army, Army Reserves and National Guard.

As part of chaplaincy training, Father Brandimarti was trained to be a soldier and an officer. Every chaplain is a commissioned officer, he said, although they lack authority to give orders.

Before his basic training, Father Brandimarti was required to meet certain physical standards and receive medical clearances. Once in South Carolina, he had 5 a.m. physical training.

“You’re doing the same basic training things, to a lesser degree, but still, the same items that soldiers do when they're put through basic training,” he said.

“Even as a chaplain, they hold us to the exact same standard they hold every soldier to in the whole U.S. Army. There’s nothing special for us. So, I have to do the same running, the same pushups, the same sit-ups as any other soldier in my age group.”

The physical standards must be maintained for the remainder of his time in the National Guard, which can be challenging.

Father Brandimarti is hopeful the challenge will make him a better priest, he said. Taking care of himself physically and maintaining the “Army standard,” he hopes, will equate to being healthier and able to serve his flock in Columbus longer as a priest.

In addition to training to be a soldier and an officer, chaplains are also trained to advise and provide religious services, which, as a Catholic priest, Father Brandimarti knew how to do. 

Many of the Protestant Christians who train to be chaplains, he said, are not in full-time ministry. They often preach on Sundays but have full-time secular jobs outside of their church. As a Catholic priest, Father Brandimarti was an exception.

“It was actually a privilege to be able to share some of my experiences with these brother and sister Christians, many of whom, I’m happy to say, walked away having a better impression of the Catholic Church than, perhaps, when they got there, which was one of my missions,” he said.

“I want to make sure all of these people walk away knowing that the Catholic Church is Christian and that we are welcoming, and we are happy to preach the gospel, so that was an honor.”