On the occasion of World Fisheries Day, 21 November 2026, the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development is releasing a message signed by the Prefect, Sr. Alessandra Smerilli, F.M.A., inspired by the words of the Gospel of John: “Come and have breakfast” (Jn 21:12). Using the image of the Risen Lord waiting on the shore for the tired and discouraged disciples after a night of empty nets, the Prefect highlights how Christ looks upon those who work at the sea. Jesus does not ask what they have caught: he had already lit a charcoal fire and prepared bread and fish. Before he entrusts Peter with a mission, he welcomes him, feeds him and restores communion. This is the path the Church is called to walk among fishers and their families.
Sr. Alessandra Smerilli raises three appeals of particular urgency: see the person, protect life, stay close.
See the person. Fishers are not merely laborers or numbers in a commercial calculation, but persons with a fundamental, inalienable dignity. This gaze also takes in those who often remain unseen: the women who process and sell the catch and hold families together, young people unsure about the future of the sector, and migrant fishers who are afraid to ask for help.
Protect life. The fire Jesus lit on the shore was a concrete gesture of care, and it calls us to protect fishers’ lives, uphold their dignity, and ensure decent working conditions: safe vessels, adequate training and rest, fair wages and contracts. Care for the sea cannot be separated from care for those who make their living by it. On this day we also remember those who have died or disappeared at sea, and the families still waiting for news.
Stay close. We must learn to “follow the fisher, not only the fish”: the Church is called to walk alongside fishers at every stage, from recruitment to the return home, so that no one is left alone when a contract ends or when injury and trauma occur.
Sr. Alessandra Smerilli then invites local Churches and all people of good will to take three concrete actions in the coming year: “To see the person: listen to fishers and their families. To protect life: strengthen an initiative promoting safety, decent work or family support. To stay close: build a reliable partnership to assist fishers in danger or distress. Small, sustained and coordinated actions can become harbors of hope.”
Finally, the Prefect thanks the chaplains and volunteers of the Apostleship of the Sea, as well as fishers’ organizations and maritime welfare partners, and invites local Churches and society to offer constant, concrete accompaniment. The words of Jesus, “Come and have breakfast,” are spoken to those who come back with full nets and to those who come back with nothing; to those who fish close to home and to those who cross oceans and territories; to those whose labor is honored and to those who remain unseen: around Christ’s fire there is a place for each one.