Rev. Christopher Krall, S.J., is not your average Jesuit.

After years spent pursuing academic research and receiving numerous degrees, Krall, BC ’05, used his religious experience in a new setting: the U.S. Navy. 

“There’s a lot of need, but very few Catholic priests who are able to enter into the military and serve,” Krall said. “I recognized I have the health and the strength, the desires and the potentiality, to be able to do that.” 

Krall served as a chaplain in the Navy for nine months at Camp Lemonnier, a base of operations for the U.S. Africa Command in the Horn of Africa. In this role, he ministered to military personnel experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) by helping them to heal through spiritual exercises and the sacraments. 

While the transition from teaching theology and neuroscience at Creighton University to the chaplaincy was rather abrupt—Krall was still grading exams on his flight to Djibouti—his entry into Jesuit life has been a lifetime in the making.

Krall first felt drawn to the priesthood in the first grade, inspired by seeing priests working at the altar.

But it was during a bike ride in his sophomore year of high school that Krall realized his calling most acutely. 

“As I was riding, the wind was blowing through the trees and over the water and then hitting me,” Krall said. “How does it all fit together? How is there this great symphony of life, an orchestra of the universe where all the pieces are playing their parts, and I’m a part of that, too?” 

While applying to college, Krall continued to feel drawn to the Jesuit priesthood and to his interest in bridging religion and science. 

Planning to major in physics and philosophy, he toured Boston College. He said it quickly became clear that BC was the place for him. 

While at BC, Krall’s freshman year experiences reflected those of many current students. He enrolled in perspectives, went on retreats, lectured at prayer services, and battled to get his luggage to Upper Campus on move-in day, where he met his long-time friend Eric Landers. 

Landers, who graduated from the Carroll School of Management with a degree in finance, recalls recognizing a faithfulness in Krall even as a freshman. 

“We would talk a lot about that, about theology and our faith,” Landers said. “He was always at this nexus of the two, of the science and faith pieces.”

At every step of his undergraduate experience, Krall said that he sought out meaningful service experiences with the Jesuits. 

Among other service missions, Krall worked with Jesuit astrophysicists in Tucson, Ariz., took classes with Jesuits across Italy, and worked with Jesuits helping Lakota and Sioux natives dealing with addiction and mental health issues. 

“It’s a tough area, but it was profound work,” Krall said. 

It was only natural, then, that Krall officially joined the Jesuits the summer after graduating from BC.

But as a longtime athlete who watched his father work in the military, Krall began to wonder about how he might combine his physical capabilities with his academic and religious interests. 

“But I had always been in sports and athletics,” Krall said. “I had all these inclinations from my father’s time in the military and early memories of living on military bases.” 

Krall began working for the Archdiocese for the Military Services, administering retreats to military personnel and meeting with chaplains. Inspired, Krall enrolled in Navy Officer Candidate School in Newport, R.I., before beginning his training for Navy chaplaincy. 

The move to chaplaincy came as no surprise to those who knew him best. 

“He is disciplined, the right type of person to be ministering to service men, service women, and our troops, who himself is physically fit, who knows what it is to train for something and to follow orders and be organized, who is able to drop things at a moment’s notice and go where he’s called,” Landers said.  

When Krall got a call asking him to fill a Navy chaplaincy position in Djibouti, he didn’t hesitate to accept.

In his capacity as a Navy chaplain, Krall worked with military personnel at all different stages in their faith life, he said.

Krall said he instituted an open-door policy that allowed him to embody what he views as the Church’s role as an instrument of mercy, care, support, and welcome—especially to those in isolating situations. 

The position is not one that Krall took lightly. 

“It’s such a privilege to be able to have those conversations and to walk with them at that moment,” Krall said. 

Krall understands that those he works with are away from family and their support systems and that many have a strained relationship with the Church and their faith. He explained that his work ministering to military personnel helps them unpack the wounds that weigh down their relationship with God.

“There is something about seeing the atrocities of humanity that rips open the human heart,” Krall said. “The military personnel were looking for a sense of peace and focus and calm and meaning in the midst of a very chaotic situation.” 

There is a rich tradition and history behind the ministering work Krall conducted in Djibouti, he explained. 

“St. Ignatius, who happened to be a soldier, who happened to have a war injury—getting a cannonball in the leg and seeing his bones protruding and watching all his friends die around him?” Krall said. “That had to be some PTSD.”

Krall shared that some of the earliest Jesuits were sent as military chaplains on naval escapades in Spain and France. 

“I feel like I’m filling in this long history of Jesuits as military chaplains, but am able to offer spiritual exercises to help develop a sense of spiritual readiness and a warrior toughness,” Krall said.

Much of Krall’s work at Camp Lemonnier and his current research focuses on the use of prayer and contemplative meditative practices to mitigate and heal PTSD symptoms. 

He hopes to provide military personnel and others experiencing PTSD with a recontextualizing practice—an Examen—that they can use for the rest of their lives.

“The idea of what an Examen is has evolved through much of Christian history, but it has always been this intentional invoking of memories and reframing them from a context of fear, trauma, despair, angst, and anxiety by recognizing the presence of a loving God who forgives, who draws us home like the Prodigal Son,” Krall said. 

Krall’s research builds on his desire to reconcile science, religion, and philosophy. 

Fellow professors at Creighton University, where Krall is an assistant professor of theology and neuroscience, recognize the distinctiveness of his work.

“There’s a uniqueness in the research he’s doing, but also in who he is, his vocation as a priest and scholar, and how he brings that together to mentor students,” said James Jay Carney, a professor of theology and African studies at Creighton University and Krall’s friend. 

Carney credits Krall’s ability to listen and build consensus as what makes him not only a standout scholar but a research mentor beloved by his students. 

“I think he has a certain pastoral presence with students that’s appreciated,” Carney said. “Being a priest, he understands walking with students, hearing them, and recognizing their whole person.” 

This year, Krall participated in a fellowship with The Lonergan Institute that has allowed him to spend more time on the Heights. While planning a return to Creighton, the fellowship has allowed Krall to dedicate time to his research efforts. 

“I’m still carrying out the duties and responsibilities of Navy chaplaincy,” Krall said. “My hope is that I could continue to integrate the research and writing and the grant work with the Navy chaplaincy. The research and the teaching can help the chaplaincy work, and vice versa.” 

It’s his faith, Krall said, that has brought his aspirations for his religious and academic life to fruition. 

“If you are open, if you allow yourself to become an instrument of God’s peace for the world, the work and the friendships, the early hopes and dreams that are being fostered here at Boston College—trust that they have fulfillment,” Krall said.