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World Maritime Day 2007
.jpg) On the occasion of World Maritime Day 2007, Archbishop
Marchetto, Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Migrants
and Itinerant People, was interviewed by Vatican Radio. This
is a transcript of that interview.
Q. Your Excellency, why is this Day celebrated?
The yearly celebration of this Day has become a
traditional appointment on the maritime scene. It is
proclaimed by the International Maritime Organization to
recall the importance of this industry and its contribution
to the world economy. The theme chosen this year, IMO’s
Response to Current Environmental Challenges, is an appeal
addressed to everyone to intensify efforts to protect and
preserve the maritime environment before the damage becomes
irreparable.
It has not been long that humanity started to understand
the fragility of our planet and the serious repercussions
that our actions can have. Many countries, however, are
still reluctant to ratify the existing Conventions regarding
protection of the maritime environment because this would
require on their part large financial investments and
expertise, which they do not always have.
Respect for the environment, in any case, presupposes the
conviction that we are all “God’s stewards in the Creation”,
and this calls for a personal, collective and international
commitment. For the Church, taking care of the Creation is a
moral question, as John Paul II’s Encyclical Centesimus
Annus reminds us.
Q. When we speak about respect for the environment,
are we also referring to all those who get their livelihood
from the sea?
When speaking about respect for the environment, it is
important to reaffirm that man is at the center of the
Creation. Such respect has no meaning if it does not start
with respect for the person who is always the principal
actor in the environmental issue.
Concern for the environment, in fact, cannot fail to
consider the needs of an ever greater population that gets
its main source of sustenance from fishing. Therefore, it is
important to favor balanced policies that will take
environmental factors into consideration for a sustainable,
and at the same time, a human use of the resources for an
equitable living standard of the people involved in fishing
activities.
Benedict XVI attests that “the environmental
deterioration makes particularly unsustainable the existence
of the earth’s poor” (Angelus of August 27, 2006). Because
of the love for the poor, we are therefore shocked by crews
abandoned in foreign ports, unpaid salaries and abuses,
which show the risk, also for the maritime industry, that
economic considerations will be put before concern for
people’s welfare.
Q. What is the Pontifical Council’s view and approach
to the challenges of the maritime environment?
Unfortunately, globalization has not improved the living
and working conditions in the maritime world. Crews spend
more and more time on board; they are isolated, stressed and
overworked. This is most obvious in the fishing sector.
Our recent World Congress of the Apostleship of the Sea
in Gdynia (Poland) stated, for example, that while it is
true that there are millions of responsible fishers who
deserve all our respect, we cannot ignore the practice of
illegal fishing, the use of destructive methods, especially
in Africa, by ships from other continents, and overfishing
which, in some regions, even risks making fish resources
disappear in the near future. I would also mention the all
too frequent accidents at sea that also have dramatic
consequences for the communities of the accident victims.
Q. Concretely, what can we do as average citizens?
If we consider that more than 90% of world trade is
carried out by sea, and if we take its contribution to the
world economy into account, it is obvious that our society
has a significant debt with regard to seafarers whose work
requires a lot of courage, experience, sacrifice and
professionalism. For a great part of them, however, there is
no corresponding recognition of this.
It is our duty, therefore, to show gratitude, even
concretely, solidarity and hospitality, to aid them when
necessary, and to pray for them and their families.
Those who live in the industrialized countries have to
understand, moreover, that the earth’s resources cannot be
squandered, and that it is necessary for them to use them
parsimoniously and in a way that is consistent with the
common good and for the sake of the future generations.
As reaffirmed at the Gdynia Congress, we want to have the
courage to introduce a “Christian humanism of hope” into the
maritime world, as witnesses to the Good News of Jesus
Christ.
Vatican Radio Interview with Archbishop Marchetto on
the occasion of World Maritime Day 21.09.07 |
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