Every year on the second Sunday of July Catholic communities celebrate "Sunday of the Sea", an International Day of Prayer for seafarers and their families, but also for those in the Church who offer them support as chaplains and volunteers who dedicate themselves to the Apostolate of the Sea; the work with which the workers of the sea are spiritually assisted since 1920.
The "Sunday of the Sea", which was officially established in 1975, aims to provide an opportunity to raise awareness of the importance of the work performed by seafarers, who today number more than one million. With their work on ships carrying goods all over the world, they often invisibly make our daily lives possible and support the economy, as H.E. Card Michael Czerny, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, reminds us in his message on the occasion of this day.
The message recalls the presence of the Apostles on the great ships that sailed the Mediterranean and their sharing of the Gospel with the people of the sea. This memory of their origins impels every community to remember all seafarers forcibly far from their loved ones and their church, without access to the Eucharist. This is why the "pastoral care of people of the sea" plays an essential role in reaching out to these brothers and sisters of ours, listening to them, accompanying them, supporting their rights and making them feel part of our own journey.
“We are a synodal Church, in which we walk together. We should go forward together, navigating together, without leaving anyone behind, and enriching one another. No one should think that they have nothing to offer. If therefore there is a specific effort this year it would be to find ways with which we could get closer to each other in an ongoing exchange that would make your work less far from the daily experience and the faith of all.”