Danish church prepares pastors for military funerals

If Denmark becomes involved in a war in Europe, the Danish national church must be prepared to handle fallen soldiers, DR reports. From January, military chaplains will travel around the country to train parish priests in military funerals and the reception of large numbers of fallen soldiers.

Thomas H. Beck, head of the national church’s military chaplains, told TV 2 that the church must be ready to handle up to 20 fallen soldiers a day in the event of a full-scale war.

During the war in Afghanistan, Denmark experienced only a few deaths a year, which military chaplains could manage, Beck said. However, experience from the war in Ukraine indicated that future casualty numbers could be much higher.

“There will be a need for the country’s other priests to receive fallen soldiers and conduct military funerals,” Beck told TV 2.

A total of 95 priests are attached to the armed forces as military chaplains. They are also parish priests in their daily work and receive basic training in military pastoral care, international humanitarian law and military skills.

Nearly every time a military unit is deployed, a chaplain accompanies it. This applies to the army, navy and air force.

Beck has previously said that the current number of military chaplains would not be sufficient in a full-scale war. In an interview with Kristeligt Dagblad last year, he said parish priests, parish councils and church employees needed training to take on national tasks currently handled by military chaplains if the chaplains were occupied by a major war abroad.

The 2024 defence agreement allocated 1.8 million kroner to strengthen the national church through the Church and Defence project.