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The Pontifical Council
For the Pastoral Care of Migrants & Itinerant People
 In
March 1970, Pope Paul VI established the The Pontifical
Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants & Itinerant People
with the task of providing pastoral care to people on the
move such as: migrants, refugees, seafarers & fishermen,
nomads, circus people. The Church thereby promotes the
pastoral care of people on the move through the Apostleship
of the Sea
- by working to ensure that Christian people become
aware of the needs of seafarers & fishers,
especially on the occasion of Sea Sunday and World
Maritime Day, and
- ensuring that Christian people effectively
demonstrate a fraternal attitude to people on the
move within their community
The Council is
commissioned with encouraging, nurturing & supporting the Church
in her apostolic work of caring for the people of the sea.
This is done by regular meetings with regional co-ordinators,
publications the World Congress every five years.
In 2002 Apostleship of the
Sea gathered in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for such a World Congress to
deliberate
Meeting the Challenges of the New Globalised World. Globalisation can and
must be given a human face. This is the task which the
international network of the Apostleship of the Sea gladly
accepts as we remember the words of Our Lord,
Do not be afraid, I am with you always.
Matthew 28:20
In 2007 Apostleship of the
Sea again gathered for the World Congress in Gdynia, Poland. Delegates pledged to remain
In Solidarity with the People of
the Sea as Witnesses of Hope through Proclamation of the
Word, Liturgy and Diakonia and to advocate a
maritime humanism.
Photograph: The late Cardinal Stephen Fumio Hamao,
President of the PCMI, receives a copy of the Stella Maris
icon from Bishop Tom Burns of AOS Great Britain, accompanied
by Mgr Jacques Harel of the AOS International Office.
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The task of the Apostleship of the
Sea is clear: it is to contribute to the best of our
ability, to bringing this globalisation of solidarity in
the maritime world, in spite of the ever increasing and
often threatening impact of certain economic globalisation
on the life and work of maritime people. The Gospel values
will be finally the gauge with which to judge the work of
the Apostleship of the Sea.
Cardinal Stephen Fumio Hamao, President of the Pontifical
Council for the Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, 1998
– 2006 |
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