International Conference of War Veteran Ministers

Fr. William P. Mahedy, a Vietnam Chaplain and NCVNVM founding member, in his book Out of the Night: The Spiritual Journey of Vietnam Vets describes how service in Vietnam was "a journey into spiritual darkness."

Dr. Jonathan Shay, author of Achilles in Vietnam, identifies in Homer's classic Iliad war narrative the concept of "themis" (Greek) or "what's right." Shay identifies betrayal of "what's right" by oneself or those in whom one trusts as a key element which, when added to traumatic stress, is likely to result in long term character damage. Such betrayal is not so much a violation of the combatant's body or mind, but of the spirit, and spiritual healing is required. Without disparaging the contributions of the psychiatric profession, Shay identifies two critically important elements in healing from traumatic stress as: (1) the opportunity to tell one's story -- (2) in a community of trust.

Our Spiritual Healing Ministry is a response to this need. It takes place on many levels:

HEALING OURSELVES through annual meetings accompanied by special services

HEALING VETERANS through our spiritual healing workshops for combat veterans as well as directly during the year.

HEALING HEALERS by conducting chaplaincy workshops for chaplains of veterans organizations, and by seeking ways to reach out to civilian clergy.

HEALING THE NATION AND WORLD with peace and justice statements approved at each annual meeting, and through contacts with veterans worldwide

Turn to our sitemap for a detailed map to all the locations we have prepared for you on our site and to coming events for a schedule of upcoming activities and programs.