The second Sunday in July marks Sea Sunday.<\/span><\/p>\n The Church on this day prays and remembers the fishermen<\/span> and more than one million seafarers<\/span> who work tirelessly on the huge vessels that transport goods around the world every day.<\/p>\n Since its inception, the Catholic Church<\/span>, through its structures such as dioceses, parishes, patronages, lay organizations and religious congregations, has provided material and spiritual assistance<\/span> to people of the sea. The type of service and assistance offered varied according to the needs and conditions of the times and places<\/span>.<\/p>\n Despite the crucial importance of seafarers to the global economy, the isolation, remoteness and invisibility<\/span> of seafarers should be highlighted among the emerging challenges. Seafarers often spend many months at sea (9 months) away from their families and communities of origin. The long absence from the home context deprives the seafarer of a sense of belonging, creating stress, anxiety and loneliness, and causing difficulties in reintegration ashore and mental health problems<\/span>. In addition, the structural remoteness of ports from cities<\/span> contributes to significant isolation of seafarers, making them effectively invisible to society.<\/span><\/p>\n In this context, the Church’s presence through Stella Maris centers<\/span> is a significant garrison that offers attentive listening and creates a sense of community in port centers<\/span>, thus becoming an essential reference point for seafarers. However, there emerges the difficulty<\/span> in several ports around the world to implement the 2006 MLC of issuing shore leave (shore pass) to seafarers to visit the city and reach Stella Maris centers or they are denied access of chaplains and volunteers on board ships<\/span>. This hampers the Church’s advocacy for the seafarer’s integral welfare by contributing to the isolation and invisibility of seafarers.<\/p>\n When I was in Genoa serving as assistant chaplain of Stella Maris, I was called to go aboard a ship where a fatal accident had occurred<\/span>; a 54-year-old seafarer had lost his life when sheared by a mooring line while the ship was in port. I spent several hours off the ship waiting for the judicial police to perform their duties. I finally managed to board the ship and met the crew seriously distressed by the incident. The ship’s captain was in an obvious state of shock; I proposed that we talk privately. He received me in his quarters, as soon as I closed the door I asked him a simple question, \u201cHow are you?\u201d<\/span> The man in front of me in his fifties, with long sailing experience, married with a wife and children, burst into tears. He reported to me that from the time the accident had happened, about 30 people had boarded the ship, including medical personnel, judicial police, harbor master, maritime officers, and other personnel, and no one had asked him that question, no one had taken a personal interest in him<\/span>. Probably if there had not been that meeting on board the ship, that captain would not have found closeness and humanity in that painful situation. The task of the Church, an expert in humanity as Paul VI said (Populorum Progressio, 1967), is precisely to be close to those in suffering.<\/span><\/p>\n Another relevant challenge<\/span> to which I want to draw your attention is related to precarious working conditions, labor exploitation, and safety<\/span>. In spite of international regulations (See MLC, 2006), many seafarers are still victims of inhumane working conditions, low wages, misleading contracts, minimized crews resulting in increased workloads. And in some cases, especially in the fishing industry, modern forms of slavery and human trafficking<\/span>. There are also incidents of bullying and power and sexual abuse, often kept silent for fear of losing jobs or suffering retaliation. A related phenomenon to labor exploitation is that of abandoned ships<\/span>.<\/p>\n In Ravenna, in recent years, there have been several cases of crews being left without support<\/span>. The shipowner, due to the high safety maintenance costs required by the competent authorities to leave port and resume sailing, may decide to abandon the ship in port. This represents a serious harm not only on a human and labor level for the seafarer, who will face a situation of stress and abandonment, but also on an economic level, as he will be forced to take legal action to recover his wages and have his injured rights recognized. In this area, there is a positive experience of synergy in Ravenna between the Seafarers’ Territorial Welfare Committee and Stella Maris to support the seafarer legally, in repatriation and in recovering wages through the sale of the seized ship<\/span>.<\/p>\n Equally, security is a major challenge in the maritime sector<\/span>. Ongoing wars have redesigned ship routes<\/span>, increasing seafarers’ days at sea and exposing ship crews to the danger of becoming military targets. Safety is also a challenge aboard ships<\/span>: innovation in the automotive industry has raised the issue related to the risks of transporting electric cars<\/span> on ships: an electric vehicle fire is more difficult to extinguish, compared to traditional fires aboard ships. The use of new fuels such as hydrogen and ammonia<\/span> is also a major safety challenge. It is estimated, according to the European Maritime Safety Agency, that by 2030 some 450,000 seafarers will need to be trained to manage the safety of these alternative fuels.[1] <\/sup><\/a>Even new navigation systems<\/span> created to improve the seafarers’ sailing experience can go into \u201cjamming\u201d creating accidents<\/span> and endangering the lives of those who sail.<\/p>\n The Church, through its chaplains and volunteers, is engaged on these fronts by exposing injustices and providing assistance to victims<\/span>. Through advocacy, the Church intervenes internationally by defending the rights of seafarers and fishermen, working with maritime organizations and governments to promote fair, decent and safe working conditions.<\/p>\n Of considerable importance is the challenge of globalization and multiculturalism<\/span>. Ship crews are often a microcosm composed of people of different nationalities, cultures, languages and religions. Living together on board confined spaces can actually become untenable for people sailing for several months, especially if it has to deal with emergency situations<\/span>.<\/p>\n For example, I was once contacted at the Stella Maris center in Ravenna about a seafarer who had been injured on board: falling from a ladder, he had broken both arms. Injuries on ships are common<\/span>, and with volunteers we visit sick seafarers in hospitals, providing them with essentials until they leave. At the hospital I met the seafarer and found out that he had been injured a few days earlier, but had reported the accident only upon arrival in port. He had been hiding for over a day in the cabin of a colleague of the same nationality who represented a minority on the entire ship’s crew. This young man revealed to me that he feared not being understood<\/span> by his colleagues and now that he could no longer do his job of being thrown overboard and abandoned to his fate<\/span>. It is precisely in such cases that Stella Maris chaplains and volunteers are called upon to be bridges of dialogue and understanding, offering support to all while fully respecting their beliefs and promoting harmony and cooperation on board<\/span>.<\/p>\n One challenge today is the impact of technology<\/span> in the maritime industry. Automation and digitization<\/span> are profoundly transforming maritime work, leading to new types of stress and reduced human interaction on board ships<\/span>. On this front, many welfare providers have turned to technology by developing apps and virtual interaction systems such as \u201cvirtual chaplains<\/span>.\u201d In response to this, the Church’s pastoral action<\/span>, while recognizing human contact and personal relationship as a priority, is called to find innovative solutions<\/span> to reach out to seafarers, including through digital tools.<\/p>\n Attention should also be drawn to two current aspects of the maritime world that too often remain in the background<\/span>: the challenges faced by merchant ship seafarers in rescuing migrants, and the active role of fishermen in safeguarding marine ecosystems.<\/p>\n On the one hand, seafarers on merchant ships increasingly find themselves involved in rescue operations at sea<\/span>. These ships, designed for cargo transport and not humanitarian assistance, must improvise emergency solutions on board, manage complex and often dramatic situations, and face long waits for safe harbor assignment. It is a human, technical, and legal challenge that these crews face with professionalism, a spirit of solidarity, and respect for the law of the sea. <\/span>On the other hand, the commitment of fishermen in protecting the marine environment should be valued<\/span>. In many Italian and European realities, they are the ones leading projects to collect waste at sea, so-called \u201cfishing for litter<\/span>,\u201d and to denounce the degradation of marine habitats. With their firsthand knowledge of the seabed and natural balances, fishermen are transforming themselves from mere economic operators to active guardians of the sea<\/span>.<\/p>\n These two distinct contexts are both characterized by a deep awareness of the value of the sea. Those who live with the marine environment on a daily basis recognize its importance and are actively engaged in the preservation of life, both human and natural<\/span>.<\/p>\n The Church can be a prophetic voice in denouncing indifference and hostility to the duty of rescue at sea, recalling the Gospel values of welcome, justice and solidarity. <\/span>On the environmental front, in light of the encyclical Laudato Si’ (2015), the Church is called to enhance the role of fishermen as custodians of Creation<\/span>, valuing sustainable practices and local projects that combine work and respect for the sea.<\/p>\n In conclusion, the Church’s action on behalf of seafarers through the pastoral ministry of the Apostleship of the Sea, supported by Stella Maris centers and the work of chaplains and volunteers, is a tangible witness to its mission of service and charity in the maritime sector<\/span>.<\/p>\n In an increasingly interconnected yet fragmented world, the Church’s supportive presence in ports around the world continues to be a symbol of hope and a tangible sign of Christ’s concern for those who sail the seas<\/span>.<\/p>\n Fr. Vicenzo Tomaiuoli, cs<\/em><\/p>\n Director of the Office for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Apostleship of the Sea<\/em><\/p>\n Archidiocesi di Ravenna-Cervia<\/em><\/p>\n [1]<\/a> Cfr. Carruezzo Abele, Regolamento FuelEU Maritime: lo shipping si prepara all\u2019uso di carburanti verdi per il 2025<\/em>, https:\/\/www.ilnautilus.it\/trasporti\/legislazione\/2024-12-22\/regolamento-fueleu-maritime-lo-shipping-si-prepara-alluso-di-carburanti-verdi-per-il-2025_154330\/<\/a>, 21\/06\/2025.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6051,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archivio-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.simieducation.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.simieducation.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.simieducation.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.simieducation.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.simieducation.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6046"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.simieducation.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6046\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6233,"href":"https:\/\/www.simieducation.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6046\/revisions\/6233"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.simieducation.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.simieducation.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.simieducation.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.simieducation.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}