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Bringing the sacraments to those who serve

Katie Collins | Catholic Herald

Deacon James C. Hinkle

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The day Deacon James C. Hinkle received the first sacrament
of initiation was, in a sense, the day he was initiated into
the Navy. It was Jesuit Father John Francis Laboon, a Navy
chaplain with a ship named after him (the USS Laboon), who
administered the sacrament of baptism to the infant.

Following his ordination to the priesthood June 7 and the
required three to five years of service in the Arlington
Diocese, Deacon Hinkle hopes to express his love of Christ
and the Navy through the military chaplaincy. In that role,
he’ll be able to “bring the sacraments to the men and women
in uniform who do without,” he said in a recent email.

Born Feb. 22, 1980, in Portsmouth, Deacon Hinkle has naval
service throughout his family tree. His maternal grandfather
was a vice admiral in the Navy, his paternal grandfather was
a chief in the Navy, and his father was a rear admiral.
Deacon Hinkle said the exceptional integrity of all three men
fueled both his desire to enter the Navy and his eventual
vocation.

Like many military families, Deacon Hinkle moved with his
parents, Meredith Anne and James B. Hinkle, and his twin
sister from coast to coast, living in Norfolk, Annandale and
Fairfax; Coronado, Calif.; and Mayport, Fla.

He graduated from W.T. Woodson High School in Fairfax,
feeling his first tug toward the priesthood as a 17-year-old
during religious education class at St. Ambrose Church in
Annandale.

He continued to feel the call even as he headed off to South
Bend, Ind., for the University of Notre Dame and its Navy
ROTC program.

“I wrestled with the decision on whether to leave the NROTC
program at ND to enter the Holy Cross seminary there,” he
said. But after one year at the university, he incurred a
commitment to the Navy and decided to place vocational
discernment behind him.

Following his 2002 graduation with a bachelor’s of business
administration in management information systems, he studied
nuclear engineering in Charleston, S.C., and continued his
training in Groton, Conn.

In 2004, Deacon Hinkle was deployed on the USS Connecticut, a
fast-attack submarine, in support of the “global war on
terror.”

A senior midshipman at Notre Dame on 9/11, Deacon Hinkle said
he and his classmates had felt a “strong willingness and
readiness” to serve their country. To be able to deploy in
support of the war on terror was a privilege, he said.

In 2006, he received a shore assignment as an expert on
Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles – long-range, subsonic cruise
missiles – at the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center in
Fallon, Nev.

Located in the desert, Fallon was a place where he could set
aside time for vocational discernment. That discernment led
to his decision to enter Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in
Emmitsburg, Md., in 2008.

Two years later, Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde invited him
to study in Rome, where he lived and received formation at
the Pontifical North American College and studied at the
Dominican-run Angelicum University.

Deacon Hinkle joked that the seminary is a lot like a
submarine – “too many people crammed into too small of a
space.”

Both at Mount St. Mary’s and in Rome, he met incredible men
from around the world. “I can only pray that I have learned
from them and they from me,” he said.

During his diaconate year, Deacon Hinkle served the Catholic
community at the Naval Support Activity in Naples, Italy,
where he was inspired by the chaplain, Father Dan Fullerton.

Three of the seven priests to be ordained this week plan to
serve as military chaplains. The diocese also has two
active-duty chaplains, two priests serving at diocesan
parishes who will be released into duty soon and two
seminarians who plan to serve as chaplains.

Yet, as Deacon Hinkle noted, there remains a severe shortage
of Catholic chaplains.

“As a consequence, our Catholic men and women operating in
harsh conditions are forced to go for long periods without
the sacraments,” he said.

In the naval tradition of his father and grandfathers, Deacon
Hinkle looks forward to bringing the sacraments – especially
the Eucharist – to such men and women who give so generously.

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