Ecclesiastical Endorsing Organizations. Final rule.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is amending its medical regulations by establishing in regulation the eligibility requirements that ecclesiastical endorsing organizations must meet in order to provide ecclesiastical endorsements of individuals seeking employment as VA chaplains, or of individuals who are seeking to be engaged by VA under contract or appointed as on-facility fee basis VA chaplains under the United States Code. VA considers veterans' spiritual care an integral part of their overall health care. As such, VA is committed to providing qualified VA chaplains to address the veterans' spiritual needs by engaging chaplains that are ecclesiastically endorsed. Ecclesiastical endorsement certifies that the individual is qualified to perform all the religious sacraments, rites, rituals, ceremonies and ordinances needed by members of a particular faith.