Stronger Together: Padre portrait commemorates diversity: Chaplains’ White, Thomas, and Cass

August 29, 2023 – Defence Stories

By: Major Tom Hamilton, PhD, historian at the CAF’s Directorate of History and Heritage and historical advisor to the Chaplain General

The Canadian military’s first Black chaplain, Padre William Andrew White, witnessed the death of a soldier because of racism. Canada’s first woman military chaplain, Padre Wilna Thomas, created an unprecedented standard that hundreds would follow. One of Canada’s first Jewish chaplains in the military, Padre Samuel Cass, experienced a spiritual liberation that overcame evil.

Padre White, Padre Thomas, and Padre Cass are each featured on portrait Stronger Together – recently unveiled at the Department of National Defence’s Carling Campus on May 19, 2023, by Brigadier-General Guy Belisle, the Canadian Armed Forces’ (CAF) Chaplain General.

During the First World War, Padre White was the chaplain of No. 2 Construction Battalion. The unit was working in eastern France to ensure vital lumber supplies reached the Western Front. In a military hospital, a sick Black soldier was refused medical care. The attending physician accused the young soldier of faking his illness. Padre White’s adamant disagreement was ignored. He stayed with the soldier and comforted him as he took his final breath. Padre White advocated on behalf of his soldiers who often lacked proper clothing, equipment, or shelter, and was often a conduit of understanding and respect between the Black soldiers and white officers of his unit.

During the Second World War, thousands of women served, often in unprecedented ways. One woman’s service ushered in an entirely new military role for women – as military chaplains. Padre Thomas enlisted in the Canadian Women’s Army Corps and – after graduating from officer's training – and was commissioned and posted to Ottawa. She was adept at bringing people of differing perspectives together. Her only regret was not being allowed to enlist three years earlier. Padre Thomas opened the door for the hundreds of women military chaplains who would follow.

Padre Cass served the Canadians fighting their way through northwest Europe. He also worked to alleviate the suffering of the Dutch Jewish community. In Amsterdam, he was sent 60 Jewish children who had been in hiding after losing their parents in the Holocaust. Padre Cass cared for them, gave them the first gifts they had received in years, and helped re-locate them with Jewish families in Britain and North America. He also helped re-establish Jewish communities in Belgium and the Netherlands.

Padre Cass conducted the first public Jewish prayers on German soil during the war. It provided a poignant memory for Canadian soldiers; they were part of a spiritual liberation that no amount of evil could silence. Following the war, Padre Cass helped establish the Canadian Jewish Chaplains Centre in Amsterdam. The building had served as the headquarters for the Nazi Gestapo, but now welcomed hundreds of Canadian Jewish service personnel. Padre Cass effectively served Canadians in uniform and a minority population devasted by war.

Roger Chabot illuminates the work of Padres’ White, Thomas, and Cass in his artistic portrait Stronger Together. Chabot’s 32 years of military service is reflected in his work as a military artist. His paintings have been presented to the Governor General, members of the Royal Family, and the Canadian War Museum. Chabot is also founder and producer of Bravery in Arms Productions. In creating Stronger Together, Chabot sought to convey to all members of the CAF that there is more that unites us than divides us, and that we truly are stronger together.