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Message to the Maritime World
Witnesses Of Hope For A Christian
Humanism In The Maritime World
Today, 29 June 2007, the feast of the Apostles St Peter
and St Paul, who was the navigator of the Gospel, we the
members of the Apostleship of the Sea are gathered in the
Polish port of Gdynia on the Baltic Sea for our 22nd world
congress organised by the Pontifical Council for the
Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People. We turn to
you, the people of the sea, of coastal communities and
exercising maritime professions, to address our message of
solidarity to you.
The theme of our Congress has been: In solidarity with
the People of the Sea, witnesses of Hope through the Word of
God, Liturgy and Service. Naturally we are aware of the many
inhuman situations which persist in the maritime world and,
alongside of you, we speak out against them: the fact human
beings still endure great injustices with indescribable
suffering and inhumane death.
But we also know that many of you live by genuine values
of solidarity and courage and that even onboard ship people
of different character, different cultures and religions,
can co-exist in friendship.
We also know that new technologies help you to
communicate better with your families and among yourselves
and to make your voices heard in the public arena. We
acknowledge those institutions which make these technologies
available to you and teach you how to use them.
Not having access to these technologies, or not knowing
how to use them, only serves to widen the gulf which
separates those who know from those who do not, those who
are habitually poor. In reality, certain businesses use
technology to subject you to working patterns more
appropriate to robots, to the detriment of the human,
spiritual and familial facets of your lives.
For these and other reasons, we pledge to remain in
solidarity with you as witnesses of hope. The Church is
conscious of being that fragile boat on which the hope of
the world set sail, the hope that is more than a mere word,
or idea or dream. As Christians we believe that that hope is
The One who bears a human name and face, our Saviour Jesus,
the Hope of the world.
- As the human face of the love of God, He makes us
the messengers of his joy
- Son of God, He turns us towards his Father whom He
teaches us to love as our Father and to worship as our
only God
- Sharing in our grief and our suffering, He urges us
especially towards those who have least, so that we can
serve them as witnesses of His love
And so, in these three ways, inspired by His Spirit, He
moves us to advocate a maritime humanism brought to life by
Christian hope. The fulfillment of this hope is not a
question of achieving or of doing but rather of being, of
living a life of true humanity such as God wanted for us
whom He created in His image.
It is through this hope that He asks us to speak not with
words which are actions as Pope Benedict XVI tells us,
recalling the words of St John, in his encyclical Deus
caritas est. Specifically, that means that the Lord is not
only asking us to be the voice of the voiceless, for which
of course your professional organizations serve.
But in addition, He asks us to be His Word, the Word that
we live and share throughout the maritime world, which is
both our world and yours. The Word of God is bearer of His
comforting presence and witness to the world which is to
come, the world we will build together and which is also the
gift of God, the heavenly Jerusalem.
It is through Christian hope that Christ asks us to turn
towards God, as you do so often when faced with the vastness
of the sea, its violence and its splendour. He asks us to
adore the Creator, to respect His creation, to turn our
hearts away from false gods and idols.
He asks us to celebrate this God who has made us as His
own and placed the seal of His infinity in our hearts; this
God who gives us His real presence in the Eucharist and
strong times of hope, joy and abundance in the liturgy.
Finally it is through Christian hope that Christ, Priest
and Deacon, asks us to serve the people of the sea wherever
we are, in the public arena and among the leaders of
Christian communities. He asks us to ensure that these
people do not continue to turn their backs to the sea but
attend to the needs of those who put out into the deep and
live from the sea within their culture.
Since the Rio congress of 2002, we have rejoiced in the
creation of the International Fishing Committee of AOS and
the passing of the new ILO Convention on Fishing, which
favours marine fishers, on 14 June 2007. One this occasion,
we wish to draw your attention to two publications of the
Church: The Compendium of Social Doctrine and the Manual for
the Apostleship of the Sea. These publications are very
useful for the formation of all.
To finish, we would like to thank all the pastoral
agents, ordained ministers, religious, lay men and women,
employees and volunteers who, in whatever way, share in the
life of the Apostleship of the Sea. We know of excellent
results in many places of the sincere ecumenical
collaboration and interreligious dialogue taking place on
land, at sea and in seafarers’ centres.
Despite the obstacles, the difficulties and the problems
which we all experience, we continue to work for our
Apostleship of the Sea giving thanks with Mary Stella Maris.
Those who contend with winds and tides in the promotion of
this maritime humanism and who, by the Word of God, Liturgy
and Service, especially for the poor, make us witnesses of
hope, in solidarity with the people of the sea. |
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