CatholicVote has spearheaded a push to allow veterans to place crucifixes on their headstones in national veterans cemeteries, an effort that has now drawn a letter from nearly 50 members of Congress urging the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to act.
The initiative gained momentum after a CatholicVote supporter raised the issue with the organization. CatholicVote staff consulted an ally inside the VA office to understand the approval process, and the constituent prepared a sample headstone design. While the VA accepted the design, officials said the approval process could take three to four years.
CatholicVote then worked with the constituent to contact Republican Rep. Greg Steube of Florida, who sent an April 10 letter to VA Secretary Douglas Collins and Undersecretary for Memorial Affairs Samuel Brown, urging them to add crucifixes to the VA’s list of nearly 100 approved emblems that veterans and their next-of-kin can select for headstones.
CatholicVote Director of Government Affairs Tom McClusky said Steube’s letter was intended to expedite the process, noting that the VA’s typical three-to-four-year review timeline could extend into “a new, possibly hostile to Catholics, presidential administration” without intervention.
In the letter, the lawmakers noted that Catholics make up roughly 20% of the U.S. military and the crucifix serves as a central symbol of their faith. The VA already approves dozens of religious symbols — including a plain cross used by some Protestant groups — and other emblems representative of Judaism, Islam, and Hinduism.
“While even atheists, humanists, and wiccans have an eligible emblem of belief for inscription, Catholic veterans do not currently have the option to select a crucifix,” the letter states. “In the pursuit of religious freedom, as guaranteed by the First Amendment to our Constitution, we urge the Department of Veterans Affairs and the National Cemetery Administration to offer the crucifix as an eligible emblem of belief for inscription on headstones at national cemeteries.”
Lawmakers asked the VA to respond by May 8 with details on its criteria and review process for evaluating and approving new emblems; whether it has received any requests from veterans’ families to add a crucifix and the outcomes of those requests; and whether it intends to approve the symbol and, if so, on what timeline.
The letter was signed by 45 lawmakers — 42 Republicans and three Democrats — including 20 Catholic members of Congress. According to a press release from Steube’s office, the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, has also endorsed the request.