National Meeting, India
.jpg) Chaplains,
colleagues and partners come together for seafarers' welfare
In July 2008, AOS India held its national chaplains
meeting in the Goa. Ten chaplains from the ports of Kandla,
Mumbai, Goa, Mangalore, Cochin, Vishakapatnam, Paradip,
Kolkata and Port Blair joined national director Fr Xavier
Pinto at the meeting.
The meeting included a two day seminar for ship welfare
visitors. Short turnaround times give seafarers little
opportunity to come ashore. Therefore ship visiting is vital
to the work of AOS. The seminar was organised by the
International Committee for Seafarers' Welfare and covered
technical and practical aspects of ship visiting. Another
whole day of the meeting was dedicated to the Maritime
Labour Convention 2006 (MLC 2006).
AOS is committed to working in partnership and to
ecumenical co-operation. Representatives of the ILO and ITF
presided at the sessions on MLC 2006. Numerous
representatives of other organisations also attended. These
included our ecumenical partners of the International
Christian Maritime Association (ICMA) together with local
ITF inspectors and union leaders and guests from Sri Lanka,
Pakistan, and Bangladesh.
he pastoral aspect of ship welfare visiting is essential
to the work of AOS. A separate meeting devoted to this was
held at the Immaculate Conception Church in the City of
Panjim. Parish priest Fr Antimo Gomes kindly hosted the
meeting. Chaplains shared their experiences of working with
seafarers and fishers including offering counselling when
required.
The meeting was blessed by Archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrao
who also presented the new edition of the Manual for
Chaplains and Pastoral Agents of AOS, recently published by
the Pontifical Council for the Care of Migrants and
Itinerant Workers. During Mass, AOS bishop promoter for
India, Bishop Joshua Mar Ignathios, spoke of the seafarers
whom India had contributed to the maritime world. He said
"We need to pray for the safety and well being of all
seafarers daily. Jesus for most of his public life was on
the sea, ocean, lakes, or rivers and is always by our side
to calm any storm in our family life and bring us to the
safe shores of heaven".
Delegates at the meeting visited the latest project of
AOS in Goa, the Next Voyage Fitness Center. Among the guests
was Rev David Potterton of our ecumenical partners Sailors'
Society. Rev Potterton said it was the first fitness
facility in the world, that he knew, especially for
seafarers in between voyages. The AOS bishop promoter and
several of the chaplains enjoyed a "work out" in the
gymnasium. |