APOSTLESHIP OF THE SEA: CHALLENGES AND EXPECTATIONS

VATICAN CITY, JUL 15, 1999 (VIS) - The "Apostolatus Maris," or Apostleship of the Sea, an office of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, has just published its second quarterly report for 1999.

This bulletin brings news of the work, challenges, changes and expectations of the apostleship throughout the world, with specific reports from Latin America, Madagascar, England and Wales, Reunion, Spain, U.S.A., Italy and Poland. In particular it highlights the First Latin American Seminar on the Apostleship of the Sea, which took place in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, March 23-26, 1999. This seminar was coordinated by the pontifical council and the Latin American Episcopal Council's Secretariat for the Pastoral Care of Human Mobility.

The Apostleship of the Sea (AOS) dedicates itself to the pastoral care of seafaring people and their families, their often-difficult insertion into society, and their economic and social problems. The term "seafaring people" includes, among others, fishermen, the military, merchant seamen, port workers and the officers and staff of cruise ships. AOS takes into account the specific work conditions of seafarers, in particular the isolation during long voyages. Family members too can experience isolation, though it is of a different nature.

AOS in Madagascar stresses the need for chaplains for seafaring people, saying "it is imperative for every concerned diocese to appoint a chaplain for fishermen and seafarers who is not just a priest from a maritime parish, but who is also a reference person" and one whose appointment is long term.

At its 1999 meeting, the Spanish chapter of AOS studied the particular problems of the families of seafarers, with emphasis on the "woman in a seaman's family, ... (because she) takes on the leading role in family life, ... raises the children, solves daily problems and represents the seaman's family socially. ... The seafarer's family, on all levels, lives with intense stress: ... the difficult work, the instability and uncertainty of economic resources and, above all, the anxiety of a family that is constantly separated and immersed in a constant and risky instability."

AOS reported on the initiative of fisherman's wives from Spain, France, Italy and Portugal, who earlier this year formed an association known as the European Fishermen's Families (FEP). The group aims to "share experiences and activities by observing the reality lived by the families of the fishing communities of Spain, France, Portugal, Germany, Denmark, England, Holland and Finland." FEP hopes to work in conjunction with the European Union and aims at achieving equilibrium for seafarers' families by improving living conditions on sea and on land.

In Augusta, Italy the Stella Maris, a seamen's mission, has undertaken a study of the problem of stowaways on board. In April, a roundtable in Italy studied this question and underscored that, "what is of greatest concern is not their number, albeit considerable, but the very particular situation in which these immigrants find themselves when they are discovered after embarking clandestinely on merchant ships in an attempt to reach the so-called well-to-do countries." Stella Maris members feel that current legislation needs to be changed, and they are preparing proposals to submit to legislative bodies.

The Polish branch of AOS in Gydnia, as a gesture of gratitude to Pope John Paul for his 1997 Apostolic Letter "Stella Maris," organized a sea parade in the Bay of Gdansk for his June 5 visit to this port city. This was the first day of the Pope's 1999 pastoral visit to his homeland, and he said an afternoon Mass at the hippodrome of Sopot, near Gdansk and overlooking the bay.

The bulletin also presented news from the pontifical council, including the May 8th publication of its booklet entitled "The Shrine. Memory, Presence and Prophecy of the Living God," and news of the council's June 23-25 plenary assembly.

Seafaring people have their own patron saint, Erasmus, also known as St. Elmo. A bishop in Formia, Italy, he was martyred under Roman Emperor Diocletian about the year 303. His relics were enshrined in 842 in the seaside town of Gaeta, near Formia, in the central Italian region of Campania. His feast day is June 2.

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