Source: Sea Sunday: Holy See reiterates closeness to seafarers – Vatican News In a message marking the annual celebration of ‘Sea Sunday’, the Holy See reiterates the Church’s closeness to all people working at sea. On the second Sunday of July each year, Christian communities celebrate this important day to express their solidarity with people working at sea and to draw attention to their essential work and needs. By Lisa Zengarini Cardinal Michael Czerny, the Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, released a message on Monday to mark Sea Sunday on July 9. The day ..read more

Every year, on the second Sunday of July, Christian communities around the world celebrate Sea Sunday to remind our communities on the essential work of more than a million seafarers. In Australia, Stella Maris and other Christian providers of welfare services, encourage everyone to pray for the safety, good health and good working conditions for seafarers. A few weeks ago, Ray Collins, Chair of the National Committee of Stella Maris, wrote to the Bishops of Australia to emphasise the important work of the seafarers in the provision of most of our daily needs and to obtain their support for th ..read more

On 26 February, Saturday evening at around 9.00 pm, Lee-Anne Diano (Manager), Seamus Quinn (President) and June Villadolid (Ship Visitor), all from Stella Maris Melbourne, pulled off a co-ordinated task and vaccinated eleven (11) crew on the TSL Rosemary ship that docked at the Melbourne Port. The event took days of preparation, endless phone calls and met many hurdles. Seamus recorded one hundred and eighteen (118) phone calls in the three (3) days prior to the vaccination campaign. Approval from Border Force was only received the day before as they were waiting for the written approval from ..read more

Ernest was born on 27 June 1926 in Merredin in the central West Australian wheatbelt.  He was one of 14 children and his mother had a café making scones, pies and sausage rolls while his father worked in a cordial factory. When the family moved to Perth in 1936 Ernest and his brother Philip attended Clontarf Boys College run by the Christian brothers.  But their mother then suffered severe complications in childbirth that left her with paralysis down one side of her body.  Ernest and Philip returned home to help with their mother’s recovery. Not long afterwards Ernest got his fi ..read more

Stella Maris Australia, a Catholic agency that provides spiritual and practical support to those working at sea, has joined an international coalition calling for better treatment of seafarers during the pandemic. Stella Maris is one of hundreds of organisations that have signed up to the Neptune Declaration on Seafarer Wellbeing and Crew Change. The Neptune Declaration calls for seafarers to be considered essential workers, and therefore have earlier access to COVID-19 vaccines, as well as for better practices to facilitate changes of crew. It also seeks greater collaboration between maritime ..read more

The current pandemic has severely affected our Stella Maris services to the seafarers that arrive on our shores. Our Chaplains and Managers have not been allowed to visit ships. They also have not been allowed to pick up seafarers on our buses so they can be transported to our centres where they can relax, play games, play music or use our internet and computers. It is even more challenging for all seafarers around the world who are not allowed to disembark ships to enjoy shore leave nor to travel home at the end of their contracts. However, our Chaplains and Managers have found creative ways ..read more

Pope Francis has been busy this year hosting Bishops from many Bishops Conferences around the world. He also travelled to half a dozen countries including the United Arab Emirates, which made him the first Pope to visit an area in the Arabian Peninsula. He also had many meetings, audiences and visits within the Vatican, around Rome and within Italy. And this is only the middle of the year! Despite his busy schedule, Pope Francis also managed to give a speech on the 27th of June 2019, at an audience with representatives from the Stella Maris European Region. The Pope was touched by the work of ..read more

When I visited our seafarers’ centres and chaplaincies in the eastern seaboard of the country, it was obvious that most of our ship visitors, Chaplains, managers and volunteers were in their senior years. It was impressive to watch their generosity and deep concern for seafarers from all over the world. They were real signs of God’s presence in our ports. But, in other parts of the world, there is a new awareness among young people to share their generosity and faith with seafarers. At Plymouth in the United Kingdom, a 24-year old ship visitor, Hannah Forrest, was recognised by a charitable or ..read more