Concerns for new 'boat people' cited as Catholic ministers to seafarers meet
Jul 26, 2007
Those who minister to migrants and travelers must help resolve the "grave humanitarian challenges" facing "the new 'boat people,' who often find themselves threatened by mafias and unscrupulous smugglers" and who are dying by the thousands, a Vatican official told the world congress of the Apostleship of the Sea.
GDYNIA, Poland (Catholic News Service, 25/07/2007) – Those who minister to migrants and travelers must help resolve the "grave humanitarian challenges" facing "the new 'boat people,' who often find themselves threatened by mafias and unscrupulous smugglers" and who are dying by the thousands, a Vatican official told the world congress of the Apostleship of the Sea.
Cardinal Renato Martino, president of the pontifical councils for Justice and Peace and for Migrants and Travelers, was one of several Vatican officials who addressed the June 24-29 congress in Gdynia.
"In the face of such new problems we cannot remain indifferent or helpless, but we must endeavor to find new ways to express our solidarity and concern," he said, describing the role of the Apostleship of the Sea as "to stand in solidarity alongside seafaring and fishing communities in their daily struggles against new challenges and pressures."
Nearly 300 priests, deacons, religious, lay chaplains and volunteers from 72 countries attended the congress, which also featured a talk by former Polish President Lech Walesa during the group's visit to Gdansk. Walesa spoke on the role of faith in the Solidarity movement and the downfall of communism and the need for faith in globalization.
Leading the U.S. delegation to the world congress were Scalabrinian Sister Myrna Tordillo, national director of the Apostleship of the Sea USA and coordinator for ministries to people on the move at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops; Father Sinclair Oubre, national president of the Apostleship of the Sea USA; and R. Jon Furukawa, national vice president.
Father Oubre, a priest of the Diocese of Beaumont, Texas, reported to congress participants on the U.S. organization's cruise-ship priest program, which has already reached agreements with the Celebrity, Norwegian and Holland America cruise companies to place priests on every cruise to minister to passengers and crew. Princess Cruises recently agreed to have priests on board all cruises that include a holy day.
In his talk, Cardinal Martino praised several developments since the last world congress in 2002 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. These included passage by the International Labor Organization of the Maritime Labor Convention in 2006 and the Convention on Fishing in June 2007.
The two conventions, if ratified by all nations, would improve benefits for more than 1 million seafarers working on 50,000 vessels and would extend those benefits to fishers who are self-employed or who are paid on the basis of a share of the catch, the cardinal said.
He said the Apostleship of the Sea is considering including "the yachting and sail competition sector" in its pastoral outreach.
Archbishop Agostino Marchetto, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Migrants and Travelers, said the world of seafaring "remains today one of the most difficult, demanding and dangerous."
"In no other age have we seen such prosperity, wealth and technological advances in the maritime industry and yet countless workers of the sea are in extreme need, as so many of them are faced with new forms of slavery in their living and working conditions," he said, paraphrasing the Second Vatican Council's Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World.
Msgr. Felix A. Machado, undersecretary of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, said efforts at ecumenical and interreligious understanding can play a major role in a world that "has increasingly become multireligious."
Although religions are sometimes cited as part of the problem, "the multireligious situation can, in fact, be part of the solution to many conflicts and violence in the world," he said.
In a world "dominated by atheism, hedonism, materialism, relativism" and indifference, Msgr. Machado said, "a Christian is invited to bear witness today by being a person of charity, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, truthfulness, self-control, mercy, pardon, reconciliation and peace."
The Apostleship of the Sea, founded in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1899 to care for the spiritual and social needs of seafarers and their families, has national organizations in 113 countries that operate seafarer centers and chaplaincies in almost every major port in the world.
Concerns for new 'boat people' cited as Catholic ministers to seafarers meet