BARCELONA, Spain (AP) 鈥� On a balmy December evening, four Indian crew members, eager to go explore this Mediterranean city where their container ship docked for a few hours, turned for help to Stella Maris. It鈥檚 the largest of the faith-based organizations that minister to seafarers in hundreds of ports around the world.
鈥淲e just call them, they help us with everything,鈥� from connecting with far-away families on video to changing currency to delivering small Christmas gifts, said second officer Sunit Kamal.
And they donate Bibles in different languages too, the 33-year-old added in the organization鈥檚 small lobby next to a statue of Mary, one of whose ancient titles is 鈥渟tar of the sea,鈥� or Stella Maris in Latin.
Whether it鈥檚 offering religious services, helping , or something as practical as serving as a delivery spot for Amazon packages, faith leaders and volunteers don鈥檛 see their work as charity.
Rather, their ministry is a way of affirming the human rights of the seafarers who keep global trade moving, often for low wages and in harsh conditions far from most people鈥檚 view 鈥� even in such popular .
鈥淚t鈥檚 all pastoral care because it鈥檚 to help a person in what they need as a person,鈥� said Ricard Rodr铆guez-Martos, the Catholic deacon and former merchant marine captain who leads Stella Maris in Barcelona, where it鈥檚 supported by the bishops鈥� council. 鈥淪eafarers are used to being seen by the people on land as a piece of the ship.鈥�
Seafarers help move global trade, but their needs often go unheeded
According to the United Nations, more than 80% of the volume of international trade in goods is transported on the seas, making seafarers crucial to .
Founded more than 100 years ago in Scotland by a group of Catholic volunteers, Stella Maris is now present in more than 50 countries and 350 ports, from Barcelona to Buenos Aires, from Manila to Miami, said Tim Hill, national director of Stella Maris UK, the biggest national entity in the network.
鈥淥ur mission is to provide practical, pastoral and spiritual support to seafarers, fishers and their families of any creed,鈥� Hill said. 鈥淲e get presented loads of problems.鈥�
The seafarers鈥� top concern is isolation 鈥� especially as stays in port are getting shorter and ships are increasingly ethnically diverse, leaving mostly male crews from places as different as the Philippines and Ukraine with little that鈥檚 familiar on extended sea voyages.
Volunteers visiting docked ships are most often asked for SIM cards to contact families, but they also get far graver requests 鈥� from hospital visits for injured seafarers to help with bullying, harassment, lack of shore leave, or even cases where and its crew left without food, pay, or the means to go home, Hill said.
A global network of seafarer ministries
Crews often feel safer speaking confidentially with a chaplain, who then can alert law enforcement and help with legal assistance across different countries.
Just last summer, a chaplain in Houston, Texas, alerted Rodr铆guez-Martos that a ship 鈥渨ith many problems鈥� was headed to Barcelona. The deacon reported it to port authorities, who boarded the vessel in Spain and required the shipowner to fix the issues, Rodr铆guez-Martos said.
He also works closely with his counterparts in Marseille, France, which is often the previous port of call along the Mediterranean. Just like Barcelona, which hosted this fall, Marseille starred this year .
But it鈥檚 a very different world on the commercial and cruise ship docks and along the dozens of kilometers (miles) that Stella Maris minivans travel daily to get to ships for visits and to bring seafarers back to their offices.
In both cities, the centers include a 鈥渃lub鈥� with a little bar, some souvenirs for sale, basic entertainment like small basketball courts or tables for pool, foosball, and table tennis. Literature includes religious magazines and maps to the cities鈥� attractions 鈥� especially popular since seafarers 鈥渘eed to see something else鈥� after months at sea, said G茅rard Pelen, one of the founders of the ministry in Marseille.
Many ask to be taken to , the Catholic basilica whose interior is decorated in maritime-themed votive offerings, said Marc Feuillebois, the director of the welcome center in Marseille鈥檚 cruise ship terminal. It hosts about 10,000 seafarers a year.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the first and the last thing they see,鈥� Feuillebois said of the hilltop church that overlooks the bay of Marseille.
Faith at sea, from Masses to boarding Nativity scenes for Christmas
Some observant seafarers also ask to be taken to worship services or to have a faith leader hold one onboard, though interest has declined over the years.
鈥淲e only get into the subject if we see they鈥檙e interested,鈥� Rodr铆guez-Martos said. He is planning Christmas Eve Mass even though last year not one seafarer showed up for it in the little Stella Maris chapel, where a figure of Christ is fixed to an old anchor as if it were a cross. On Christmas day, ships are often out at sea instead of at ports, where they would have to pay duties also on non-working days.
But regardless of their own practice, seafarers remain very eager to meet with the volunteers and faith leaders for some much-needed, non-judgmental human contact.
鈥淭hey know what they say, it won鈥檛 be shared. Within five minutes, we鈥檙e in confidence, without filters,鈥� said Jean-Philippe Rigaud, a Catholic deacon who leads the ministry in Marseille. Rigaud, who鈥檚 retired from a career on container ships and then as port pilot, said seafarers share what鈥檚 troubling them, ask for prayers or simply about what鈥檚 happening in world news.
His wife of nearly 50 years, Marie-Agnes Rigaud, noted the importance of ministering to the seafarers鈥� families too. She remembers reaching out to the family of a seafarer from the Philippines for whom she had prayed a rosary at the morgue, and she鈥檚 frequently hosted some for Christmas meals in their house in a village outside Marseille.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e people who are for the most part very lonely,鈥� said Bryan Parrish, an American Protestant pastor who plans to volunteer at the Marseille mission after starting a 鈥渟eaman鈥檚 club鈥� in La Rochelle, on France鈥檚 Atlantic coast, more than 30 years ago.
Tackling that loneliness is at the heart of the mission to seafarers, even in small gestures. On Christmas Eve, for instance, Stella Maris delivered hand-sized Nativity scenes and nougat candy to seven ships docked in Barcelona.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a way of saying, 鈥橧t鈥檚 Christmas, we鈥檙e thinking of you,鈥� Rodr铆guez-Martos said.
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Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP鈥檚 with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Giovanna Dell鈥檕rto, The Associated Press
