Indonesia
In Indonesia, AOS is training
pastoral workers to respond to the needs of seafarers,
fishers and their families. The support of the local Church
is vital.
 In
early September 2007, a seminar on seafarers’ ministry was
held in Batam, Indonesia. Eighteen pastoral workers
attended. These included priests, sisters and lay people,
young and old, from different parts of Indonesia.
The participants had the opportunity to meet seafarers
onboard ship and in port. For many participants, it was the
first time that they had heard about seafarers’ issues from
the seafarers themselves and seen the confined space inside
a ship which is their home.
Later the same month, a workshop was held in the port of
Bitung. The theme of the workshop was pastoral ministry to
seafarers and their families. Opening Mass was celebrated by
Bishop Mandagi in a small community church called Salib Suci,
Holy Cross Chapel, in the fishing village of Aertembaga.
Members of the congregation warmly welcomed the participants
of the workshop who came from all over Indonesia.
 The
workshop lasted for five days. Seafarers and their families
spoke directly to participants during the workshop. After
each session, there was time for reflection to enable
participants to respond with their hearts to the stories
they had heard and consider them from a pastoral
perspective. At the end of the workshop, commitments were
made for developing ministry for seafarers, fishers and
their families. These included:
Building small groups of seafarers and fishers and their
families as basic ecclesial communities in their parishes or
ports of origin.
Translating the AOS Manual and other training materials
into the local language for use by pastoral workers.
Recruiting new pastoral workers for the ministry and
organising training in appropriate languages.
Campaigning for the Government of Indonesia to ratify the
Consolidated Maritime Labour Convention of 2006 and the Work
in Fishing Convention of 2007.
AOS in Indonesia
 Fr
Bennie Salettia is the national director of AOS Indonesia.
He says of the workshops:
"We discussed many situations pastorally and socially.
For me, the most important part of the workshops was
challenging misconceptions about seafarers and their
families. Many of the participants were shocked when they
realised how bad the conditions are for seafarers and
fishers in Indonesia today.
I am very happy now. There are now lots of people in our
Church in Indonesia who are learning about the importance of
seafarers’ issues today. Bishop PC Mandagi MSC, the
president of Pastoral Commission for Migrant and Itinerant
People of Bishops’ Conference of Indonesia, is very
supportive of our work in bringing the issue of seafarers to
the church in Indonesia."
Photographs: (1) Delegates of the workshop at the
celebratory Mass. (2) Seafarers Brando and Denis in the
ship's mess in Batam. (3) Fr Bennie Salettia. |