NOTRE DAME SEMINARY

PEOPLE OF THE SEA, PEOPLE OF GOD

A RESEARCH PAPER SUBMITTED TO

SISTER ELIZABETH WILLEMS, S.S.N.D.

MT 302 CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHING

ROMMEL P. TOLENTINO

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA

MARCH 2004

Introduction

The opening lines of the Second Vatican Council’s “Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World” (Gaudium et Spes) powerfully capture the Church’s contemporary mission in the world:[1] “The joys and hopes, the grief and anguish of the people of our time, especially of those who are poor or afflicted, are the joys and hopes, the grief and anguish of the followers of Christ as well.”[2] Embracing “the joys and hopes, the grief and anguish” of our brothers and sisters as our own is the duty elucidated in the Catholic Church’s social teaching.[3] Richly developed especially in the last one hundred years, this collection of principles, guidelines, and applications offers a “compelling challenge for responsible Christian living today.”[4]

Among the poor and the oppressed, to whom the Church exhorts us to be especially attentive, are the seafarers, part of a large group of migrant workers who endure untold miseries and countless trials. The seafarers’ constant mobility and unique situation make them almost invisible and elusive. As a result, they are one of the most neglected sectors in our society today.[5] Nevertheless, the people of the sea, as they are often called, are God’s people. “They need to be loved and cared for and nurtured in their faith.”[6] This research paper aims at exploring the plight of seafarers and the Church’s challenge in response to their dire situation. I will then illustrate how the Diocese of Lake Charles takes heed of the Church’s call to minister to the needs of seafarers. I will conclude with a personal assessment and reflection.

Seafarers’ Situation

The last forty years have seen a remarkable increase in those directly and indirectly involved in the maritime industry. “In the 1960’s, when seaborne traffic began to give way to air traffic, the whole maritime population was not more than five million. Today, the crews of fishing vessels, great and small, as well as the crews of merchant ships, amount to ten times that number. If we add the families and dependents of these seafarers, as well as all those indirectly connected with the maritime world, we easily reach the figure of 300 million people.”[7]

A bad reputation has preceded merchant seafarers for centuries: drunken womanizers, fighting barroom brawlers, trouble for any port community.[8] “That may have been true at some point back in the days when criminals signed aboard ships to escape punishment, men were shanghaied and forced to work as seamen, men were taken as slaves to keep a ship sailing, or the life of the seafarer was romanticized and envied.”[9] The seafarers of today are considerably different from their counterparts of long ago. They are “mostly family men or women from developing nations who are forced by economics to go to sea to provide for their families. They are hard workers who make great sacrifices. They are easily replaced as many people wait in line for their jobs. Shore jobs in their home countries pay little and/or are scarce.”[10]

A 1987 survey among seafarers undertaken by the International Christian Maritime Association found that seafarers come from many nations and represent many races. Asians comprise more than sixty percent of all seafarers. The largest national group consists of Filipinos, with over 55,000 seafarers serving aboard 4,500 ships from thirty different countries. Many Filipino seafarers are devout Catholics, while the majority of them are at least nominally Catholic.[11]

The seafarer of today has a family in his native country and saves as much money as possible to send home to his family. His time on shore is enormously valuable to him. His duties on board the ship make his shore leave very brief even while in port. A seafarer leads a very isolated life. U.S. Immigration officers sometimes deny foreign seafarers entry into American ports for fear that they might jump ship. Modern container ports are located a distance from population centers thus making it impossible to get to town to purchase things that would satisfy their modest needs.[12]

Seafarers experience needs that are out of the experience of the majority of people. Most of them come from developing countries where there are no unions to enforce contracts or protect rights. A number of them are poor financially, due to dishonest owners and operators (even governments) who readily exploit the vulnerable.[13] “There is another poverty that comes from being separated for long periods of time from shore-based society, including one’s family and local community.”[14] In fact, the number one social problem of most seafarers is the long isolation from family and friends, aggravated by the lack of shore leave due to the fast turn around of ships.[15] “Seamen are the loneliest persons in the world. They have no real homes of their own. Their families suffer from their absence, but the ones who suffer the most are themselves.”[16]

The following excerpts, from a series of correspondences by a Romanian seafarer to a chaplain in Detroit between the years 1990 and 1993, vividly illustrate the grim situation in which many seafarers find themselves today:

All seamen love the sea, in the same time, all seamen fear the sea. We must respect her; so God will be with us all the time…

At home I came up against many troubles. The death of my mother-in-law (at age 53), the falling ill of my mother, and my family and I must leave the apartment of my wife’s uncle (where we live)…

My mother died on 6 February. All my attempts and sacrifices at this time when I was home was in vain. I feel guilty. I think that my small house in Bucharest was oppressive for my mother. I feel awful…

It is like I must fight all the world! I lost the trust in human beings, in my future, in my daughters’ futures. I hate our system…

I told you in my last letter that the Sri Lankan crew make a strike. They called the ITF authorities and received their money and also their plane tickets home, but got bad remarks in their seaman’s books. This will make it difficult for any further employment through the Sri Lankan agencies.

The ship proceeded to Israel with only three person crew in engine room. And then we returned to Greece the same way. And my pay is not getting to me yet. I must receive until now more than $6000US! And looks like there is no hope to receive this money momentarily…

In Romania the situation is worse. Another friend of mine and his family left for Australia. My application for South Africa has gone without answer. The time passes, I continue to work and hope.[17]

Church’s Challenge

Sacred Scripture depicts hospitality as a kind of sacrament of the encounter between God and humans. In the Old Testament, for instance, Abraham unexpectedly met God and his two angels in the form of mysterious travelers whom he welcomed at midday by the oak of Mamre (Gn 18:1-10).[18] In the Gospels, Jesus taught his disciples to exercise hospitality. In the parable of the Last Judgment found in Mt 25:31-46, hospitality extended to others turned out to be a way of welcoming Jesus himself:[19] “I was … a stranger and you welcomed me…. Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did it for me” (Mt 25:35, 40).[20] The first Christians acceded to the “sacramental” notion of hospitality as evidenced by several passages from the New Testament. In 1 Pt 4:9, we find this gripping exhortation: “Be hospitable to one another without complaining.” Heb 13:2 indicate the mysterious dimension of hospitality:[21] “Do not neglect hospitality, for through it some have unknowingly entertained angels.”

The growth and spread of Christianity has been bound up with the sea.[22] The Acts of the Apostles tells us of extended weeks spent aboard ships that sailed the Mediterranean for commercial purposes.[23] “These ships regularly put in at ports, and each call becomes an ecclesial experience.”[24] Take this example from Acts 21:2-7:

Finding a ship crossing to Phoenicia, we went on board and put out to sea. We caught sight of Cyprus but passed by it on our left and sailed on toward Syria and put in at Tyre where the ship was to unload cargo. There we sought out the disciples and stayed for a week. They kept telling Paul through the Spirit not to embark for Jerusalem. At the end of our stay we left and resumed our journey. All of them, women and children included, escorted us out of the city, and after kneeling on the beach to pray, we bade farewell to one another. Then we boarded the ship, and they returned home. We continued the voyage and came from Tyre to Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and stayed a day with them.

The very reality of the Church humbly breaks through the details of this narrative: mutual acknowledgment (“we sought out the disciples,” “we greeted the brothers”), hospitality (“stayed for a week,” “stayed a day with them”), communal discernment (“they kept telling Paul through the Spirit”), and common prayer (“kneeling on the beach to pray”).[25]

Extending hospitality to strangers and promoting the rights of workers have been the constant teaching and practice of the Catholic Church, but these have not been done as clearly and systematically as in recent times with the release of various Church documents addressing these issues. The Second Vatican Council, for instance, directed bishops to welcome strangers into their dioceses:[26] “Special concern should be shown for those members of the faithful who, on account of their way of life are not adequately catered for by the ordinary pastoral ministry of the parochial clergy or are entirely deprived of it.”[27] Additionally, the Council Fathers denounced the discrimination and exploitation of migrant workers: “Every kind of discrimination in wages and working conditions should be avoided in regard to workers who come from other countries or areas and contribute by their work to the economic development of a people or a region.”[28]

The Popes of the twentieth century have highlighted the right of individuals and families to migrate and the duty of the state to welcome them. John XXIII elucidated these teachings in Mater et Magistra (1961) and Pacem in Terris (1963).[29] Paul VI, stressing the fact that this duty of welcoming others springs from Christian charity and human solidarity, proposed the establishment of centers of welcome in his encyclical Populorum Progressio:

This must be done first to protect them from loneliness, the feeling of abandonment, and distress, which undermine all moral resistance. This is also necessary to protect them from the unhealthy situation in which they find themselves, forced as they are to compare the extreme poverty of their homeland with the luxury and waste which often surround them. It should be done to protect them from subversive teachings and temptations to aggression which assail them, as they recall so much “unmerited misery.” Finally, and above all, this hospitality should aim to provide them, in the warm atmosphere of a brotherly welcome, with the example of wholesome living, an esteem for genuine and effective Christian charity, an esteem for spiritual values. [30]

The bishops of the world have joined their voices in responding to the needs of migrant workers. The 1971 Synod of Bishops numbered migrant workers among the voiceless, victims of injustice. Migrants “are often forced to leave their own country to find work, but frequently find the doors closed in their faces because of discriminatory attitudes, or, if they can enter, they are often obliged to lead an insecure life or are treated in an inhuman manner.”[31] On the national level, the bishops of the United States promote the fair treatment and nondiscrimination of migrant workers, [32] which would include seafarers in US territory.

Pope John Paul II has done much to address the situation of migrant workers in general and seafarers in particular. In Laborem Exercens, he devoted a whole section to the emigration question:

The most important thing is that the person working away from his native land, whether as a permanent emigrant or as a seasonal worker, should not be placed at a disadvantage in comparison with the other workers in that society in the matter of working rights. Emigration in search of work must in no way become an opportunity for financial or social exploitation…. For even greater reason the situation of constraint in which the emigrant may find himself should not be exploited. All these circumstances should categorically give way; after special qualifications have of course been taken into consideration, to the fundamental value of work, which is bound up with the dignity of the human person.[33]

In his 1997 apostolic letter Stella Maris, the Pope wrote: “Jesus Christ … accompanied his disciples in their boat, helped them in their labours and calmed the storms. Thus the Church also accompanies seamen, taking care of the specific spiritual needs of those who for various reasons live and work in the maritime world.”[34] The Roman Pontiff established and updated the norms issued in this century in order to meet the needs of those engaged in the fishing and maritime trade, their families, harbor personnel and all those who travel by sea.[35]

On another occasion, the Holy Father, after describing how the seafaring world has become a missionary world, placed the responsibility of evangelization and catechesis on the entire People of God: “The responsibility for catechesis rests upon the entire People of God, working together with the hierarchy, in harmony and according to the diverse roles and gifts of each person…. The local Churches have a special role to play in the pastoral care of seafarers and other migrant groups…. The responsibility for catechesis also rests upon believing seafarers themselves who by reason of their baptism have the privilege and duty of bringing their brothers and sisters to a deeper knowledge of Christ and to a clearer intimacy with him.”[36]

The Church’s emphasis on the collaboration of the faithful in regard to the care and treatment of migrant workers is in perfect accord with the origins of the Apostleship of the Sea, an international network of Catholic associations and organizations with members in 98 countries.[37] The network, which now operates under the auspices of the Pontifical Council for the Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, originated in 1920 as an initiative of the laity.[38] Seafaring and land-based people in the Apostleship of the Sea share a common objective: “to address the spiritual, social and material well being of seafarers on merchant and fishing vessels. The organization does the same for maritime families, not distinguishing between culture, nationality or religion.”[39] Today, the Apostleship of the Sea operates in 416 ports throughout the world in all five continents. There are over fifty Seafarer’s Centers scattered along the coasts of the United States.[40]

Diocesan Data

The Seafarer’s Center at the Port of Lake Charles, established in 1956, is an agency of the Lake Charles Diocese and is completely funded by the Diocese through the Bishop’s Services Appeal. Additional funding is drawn from the assessment of each ship that comes to the Port of Lake Charles and other facilities in the area. This assessment is a voluntary donation; about 50% of the shipping companies donate. The director and the chaplain are the only two persons paid on the staff; the rest serve as volunteers.[41]

The center services 39 docks, ranging 12 miles downriver on the east side and 25 miles on the west side. The city docks ship out rice, beans, cooking oil, flour, wheat, corn meal, lintels and overseas containers. They have 4 bulk-loading terminals, loading pet coke and bulk grain and receiving limestone and rock from other countries. There are 2 refineries, 5 chemical plants, and 3 shipyards.[42]

An average of 1,000 ships come into the Lake Charles area per year; about 350 seafarers visit the center each month; around 450 seafarers are transported to shopping centers or churches per month.[43] In the last two years 8,254 seafarers visited the Lake Charles Seafarer’s Center. Of this number, 2,988 (37%) were from the Philippines, 1,130 (14%) each from the USA and China, 404 (5%) from Panama, 323 (4%) each from Russia, Poland, and India, 242 (3%) from Greece, and 161 (2 %) each from Korea, Nicaragua, Romania, and Ukraine.[44]

The Lake Charles Seafarer’s Center has the following objectives: (1) To reach out to seafarers, fishers, their families and all who work or travel on the sea, and (2) To assist seafarers in meeting their basic needs: a safe work environment, a just contract, a safe haven while in port, spiritual renewal, communication with loved ones, recreation and a genuine welcome. The center offers phone cards, postage, sodas, souvenir t-shirts, and Internet service for a charge. Books, magazines, rosaries, Bibles in various languages, used clothing, toiletries, paper, envelopes, snacks, coffee, greeting cards, and playing cards are offered for free. Because the Catholic Diocese of Lake Charles funds it, the center is able to offer these services at no charge. The center has a pool table, 2 ping-pong tables, a dart board, and board games for the recreational needs of visitors.[45]

In 2003, the Apostleship of the Sea in Lake Charles reported 160 Masses celebrated aboard ship and 29 at the Seafarer’s Center, 30 Communion Services aboard ship and 2 at the Seafarer’s Center; 235 availed of the Sacrament of Reconciliation aboard ship, and 15 ship blessings were performed.[46] “Because modern seafarers spend 80% of their time at sea and only 20% ashore, the Roman Catholic Church has called on the seafaring members to be the Church aboard ship, not merely to wait to be served when arriving in port. Seafarers are called to build community, even a Christian community, among the crew. Some are prepared to carry the Blessed Sacrament with them aboard their ships and to distribute Holy Communion to other Catholic crew members in a communal prayer service.”[47]

Deacon Patrick Lapoint, Director of the Seafarer’s Center in Lake Charles, expressed some of the problems they face locally: “Each day it seems like they lose some service that they need. First, they lost shore leave; now, most docks in the Lake Area have no phones on them. With the sale of the US Unwired to Cingular we will soon lose the ability to put cell phones on ships due to plan changes.”

Critique and Conclusion

Catholic social teaching has often been called “[t]he best kept secret in the Roman Catholic Church in the United States” because a majority of the faithful in this country is unaware of it.[48] Through my Catholic Social Teaching class here in the seminary, I am able to tap into the Church’s rich treasury of social teachings. This research paper, in particular, not only increased my knowledge of the sorry plight of a multitude of people in the maritime world, but also my appreciation for the Catholic Church’s genuine concern for such people who are in dire straits and her untiring efforts to promote their rights, uphold their dignity, protect their interests, and provide for their needs. Unfortunately, much of the world is ignorant of the sorry state of seafarers today. Much of the world is ignorant of Church’s call to extend hospitality, justice, and charity to such people. In fact, many people in society, companies and even governments, have not heard the Church’s call as evidenced by their unjust treatment of seafarers and their families.

On the other hand, a number of the Catholic faithful have taken the Church’s challenge with great zeal and dedication. Those involved in the Apostleship of the Sea attest to this. The Apostleship of the Sea has been a real collaborative effort between the hierarchy and the laity whose common goal is the attainment of authentic human development – a development that involves the whole person, not only in the economic realm but also in other areas such as the social, the cultural, and the spiritual as we have learned in class. Nonetheless, much is still needed to increase the ordinary Catholic’s awareness of the plight of seafarers and to encourage just and charitable actions on their behalf. The Seafarer’s Centers are in real need of volunteers with generous hearts and compassionate attitudes.

Using the inductive method, Pope John Paul II, in his apostolic letter Stella Maris, “does not start with the Hierarchy and then go on to the faithful; rather, it begins with ‘the people of the sea’…. It makes sense to put the ‘people of the sea’ in the first place, and to underline their role as agents of spiritual and moral good for the whole maritime community, as they put into practice their proper Christian vocation to give witness to their faith and to serve their brothers and sisters.”[49] Through their Baptism, the people of the sea are truly incorporated into the People of God. They are thus given the share in Christ’s mission to spread the gospel to the four corners of the earth and to work for the good of souls. This approach by the Holy Father encourages the transformation of the world that begins from within each person, entailing personal conversion.

Finally, my work on this research paper has given me valuable insights into the Diocese of Lake Charles’ situation. I never knew before that the majority of the seafarers who visit the Seafarer’s Center in Lake Charles are Filipinos. It is quite possible then that I may be called to assume the chaplaincy position there in the future. When that time comes, I would consider it an honor and privilege to minister not only to my own people, but to all the people of the sea who are also God’s people. In the meantime, I will attempt to seek opportunities that are within my reach to increase my participation in the ministry to the seafarers at the Port of Lake Charles.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Anson, Peter. The Church and the Sailor: A Survey of the Sea-Apostolate Past and Present.

London: John Gifford Limited, 1948.

Cheli, Giovanni. “Active agents in pastoral care of seafarers: On the apostolic letter Stella

Maris.” Osservatore Romano (English) 1484 (Mar 26 1997): 9.

Christus Dominus – Decree on the Pastoral Office of Bishops in the Church (1965). In Vatican

Council II: The Basic Sixteen Documents – Constitutions, Decrees, Declarations. Revised translation. Edited by Austin Flannery, O.P. Northport, New York: Costello Publishing, 1996.

Flannery, Austin, O.P., gen. ed. Vatican Council II: The Basic Sixteen Documents –

Constitutions, Decrees, Declarations. Revised translation. Northport, New York: Costello Publishing, 1996.

Gaudium et Spes – Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World (1965). In Vatican

Council II: The Basic Sixteen Documents – Constitutions, Decrees, Declarations. Revised translation. Edited by Austin Flannery, O.P. Northport, New York: Costello Publishing, 1996.

Grady, Donald F., S.J. “Visit a Ship, Meet a Seaman.” The Priest 39 (Feb 1983): 4-5.

Lai, Karen M. An Unconditional Love Story: Meeting the People of the Sea. Niles, IL: Mall

Publishing-Maritime Library, 1999.

Lapoint, Patrick, Director of the Lake Charles Seafarer’s Center at the Port of Lake Charles.

Lebeau, Paul. “A Significant Area of Adult Catechesis: the Apostolate of the Sea.” Lumen

Vitae 37, no. 1 (1982): 27-38.

John XXIII. Mater et Magistra – Christianity and Social Progress (1961). In Catholic Social

Thought: The Documentary Heritage. Edited by David J. O’Brien and Thomas A. Shannon. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1992.

John XXIII. Pacem in Terris – Peace on Earth (1963). In Catholic Social Thought: The

Documentary Heritage. Edited by David J. O’Brien and Thomas A. Shannon. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1992.

John Paul II. “Address to participants in the World Congress of the Apostleship of the Sea

saying that the seafaring world has become a missionary world (1982 October 27) [English tr]” Osservatore Romano (English) no 45 [758], (Nov 8 1982): 4-5.

John Paul II. “Apostolate of the Sea: Message of Pope John Paul II to Cardinal Bernard Gantin,

President of the Pontifical Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Tourists (November 1, 1988).” The Pope Speaks 33, no. 1 (1988): 49-50.

John Paul II. Laborem Exercens – On Human Work (1981). In Catholic Social Thought: The

Documentary Heritage. Edited by David J. O’Brien and Thomas A. Shannon. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1992.

John Paul II. Stella Maris – Motu Propio On the Apostleship of the Sea (31 January 1997).

Available [online]: http://www.ewtn.com/library/papaldoc/jp2apsea.htm

[19 February 2004].

Justice in the World (1971 Synod of Bishops). In Catholic Social Thought: The Documentary

Heritage. Edited by David J. O’Brien and Thomas A. Shannon. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1992.

O’Brien, David J. and Thomas A. Shannon, ed. Catholic Social Thought: The Documentary

Heritage. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1992.

Paul VI. Populorum Progressio – On the Development of Peoples (1967). In Catholic Social

Thought: The Documentary Heritage. Edited by David J. O’Brien and Thomas A. Shannon. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1992.

Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People. “The People of the

Sea.” Available [online]: http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/ migrants/documents/rc_pc_migrants_doc_20000601_mare_presentazione_en.html

[19 February 2004].

Schultheis, Michael J., Edward P. DeBerri, and Peter J. Henriot. Our Best Kept Secret: The

Rich Heritage of Catholic Social Teaching, rev. ed. Washington, D.C.: Center of Concern, 1987.

United States Catholic Conference of Bishops. Welcoming the Stranger Among Us: Unity in

Diversity (2000). Available [online]: <http://usccb.org/subject.htm> Select: Migration [26 March 2004].

Yzermans, Vincent A. American Catholics Seafarers’ Church: A narrative history of the

Apostleship of Sea and the National Catholic Conference for Seafarers in the United States. Washington, D.C.: The National Catholic Conference for Seafarers in the

United States, 1995.

2003 Annual Report, Apostleship of the Sea – Port of Lake Charles.

[1] Michael J. Schultheis, Edward P. DeBerri, and Peter J. Henriot, Our Best Kept Secret: The Rich Heritage of Catholic Social Teaching, rev. ed. (Washington, D.C.: Center of Concern, 1987), iii.

[2] Gaudium et Spes, § 1, in Vatican Council II: The Basic Sixteen Documents – Constitutions, Decrees, Declarations, rev. trans., gen. ed. Flannery, Austin, O.P. (Northport, New York: Costello Publishing , 1996), 163.

[5] Donald F. Grady, S.J., “Visit a Ship, Meet a Seaman,” The Priest 39 (Feb 1983): 4.

[6] Karen M. Lai, An Unconditional Love Story: Meeting the People of the Sea (Niles, IL: Mall Publishing -Maritime Library, 1999), 1.

[7] Archbishop Giovanni Cheli, “Active Agents in Pastoral Care of Seafarers: On the Apostolic Letter Stella

Maris,” Osservatore Romano (English) 1484 (Mar 26 1997): 9.

[11] Vincent A. Yzermans, American Catholics Seafarers’ Church: A narrative history of the Apostleship of Sea and the National Catholic Conference for Seafarers in the United States (Washington, D.C.: The National Catholic Conference for Seafarers in the United States, 1995), 342.

[13] Rev. Msgr. James Dillenberg, in Lai, iii.

[18] Paul Lebeau, “A Significant Area of Adult Catechesis: the Apostolate of the Sea,” Lumen Vitae 37, no. 1 (1982): 34.

[20] All biblical citations are from the New American Bible, 1990 edition.

[22] Peter Anson, The Church and the Sailor: A Survey of the Sea-Apostolate Past and Present (London: John Gifford Limited, 1948), 8.

[27] Christus Dominus, § 18, in Flannery, 295.

[28] Gaudium et Spes, § 66, in Flannery, 245.

[29] Mater et Magistra, § 45; Pacem in Terris, §§ 25, 106, 107; in Catholic Social Thought: The Documentary Heritage, ed. O’Brien, David J. and Thomas A. Shannon (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1992), 90-91, 134, 148.

[30] Populorum Progressio, § 67, in O’Brien and Shannon, 256.

[31] Justice in the World (1971 Synod of Bishops), in O’Brien and Shannon, 291.

[32] United States Catholic Conference of Bishops, Welcoming the Stranger Among Us: Unity in Diversity (2000). Available [online]: <http://usccb.org/subject.htm> Select: Migration [26 March 2004].

[33] Laborem Exercens, § 23, in O’Brien and Shannon, 384.

[34] John Paul II, Stella Maris – Motu Propio On the Apostleship of the Sea” (31 January 1997). Available [online]: http://www.ewtn. com./library/papaldoc/jp2apsea.htm [19 February 2004].

[36] John Paul II, “Address to participants in the World Congress of the Apostleship of the Sea saying that the seafaring world has become a missionary world (1982 October 27) [English tr],” Osservatore Romano (English) no. 45 [758], (Nov 8 1982): 4.

[37] Cheli, in Osservatore Romano (English) 1484 (Mar 26 1997): 9.

[39] Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, “The People of the Sea.” Available [online]: http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/migrants/documents/rc_pc_migrants _doc_20000601_mare_presentazione_en.html [19 February 2004].

[40] From materials provided by Deacon Patrick Lapoint, Director of the Lake Charles Seafarer’s Center at the Port of Lake Charles.

[46] 2003 Annual Report, Apostleship of the Sea - Port of Lake Charles.

[47] Rev. Msgr. James Dillenberg, in Lai, iv.

[49] Cheli,in Osservatore Romano (English) 1484 (Mar 26 1997): 9.