Oliver Rafferty (“With God at their side, 2 August) calls the presence in the armed forces of chaplains a “perennial issue”. It may be, but it scarcely ever surfaces. The issue is not that chaplains minister to those who go against the “clear injunctions” of Jesus – everyone is guilty of that and needs the remedies for it. The issue is whether individuals freely choosing to be part of an organisation dedicated to that end can be accompanied in their actions by a representative of the Church. The institutional character of the armed forces apparently came to the fore in the case of Fr Willie Doyle as recounted by Richard Brumby (Letters, 9 August), in which his nationality, religion and calling put him outside the norms of what was acceptable. How differ