Apostleship of the Sea

New Zealand Tablet, Volume L, Issue 6, 8 February 1923, Page 48

Apostleship of the Sea

The duties of the A.S. ship-visitor (says the Irish Catholic ) would be greatly lightened were there many Catholic seafarers of the same type as were met by two shipvisitors when on their rounds in Glasgow recently. The ship—not a frequent visitor to the Clyde —had six or seven Catholics among her crew, all of whom, except the captain, were at Mass when the visitors went aboard. The captain had already been at Mass in an adjacent church, received Holy Communion, and waited for a second Mass, before returning to his ship to see his men,, who were Catholics, turn out. A non-Catholic member of the crew assured the ship visitors that this was the usual routine, at home or abroad, when in port on Sunday mornnig, and spoke also of the high esteem in which the captain was held by all aboard the ship. Alert and active, despite his 80 years, Captain W is a remarkable man. In the comfortable little cabin of the , to which he courteously invited his visitors, he enterttained them with reminiscences of his long seafaring life, and showed, with delightful naivete, records and relics of unusual interest, also —with pardonable pridethe photographs of the two children whom he has given to the Church.

One record had a special interest for the visitorsthat one which stated that in the year 1905 Capt. AY. had been enrolled in the Apostleship of the Sea. The excellent ship-visiting work which was carried on in Glasgow under the direction of the late Father Egger, S.J., some 20 years ago, established a tradition of Catholic sailor-service which has made possible the rapid progress of the wider scheme of work which is being developed under the old name. The hew A.S. badge and membership card were given to Captain W. ere leaving, and the name of that kindly Irish gentleman, one worthy of being held in honor among seafarers, was added to the register of the Inter-

One of the most helpful factors in pronational Union of Catholic Seafarers, moting the apostolate is the willing cooperation of the seamen themselves. The following extract from a letter received recently from Jar row-on-Tyne serves to illustrate this point :

“I have been 35 years at sea, and often wondered that, with our Universal Church and Faith no one ever gave a thought to those who go down to the sea in ships. . . In my humble way I always try to get those of our faith to their duties, and take them to church, when aboard, and so you can understand how heartily I welcome this start you have made.” The seaman who wrote this letter encloses a donation of £l.

Solemn High Mass for the repose of the souls of seafarers who have died during the past year was celebrated in St. Andrew’s Cathedral, Glasgow, on Sunday, November 26, at which many seamen and other A.S. members assisted.. v

Statistics recently compiled show that of the 25,000,000 persons of German birth or immediate descent now living in foreign countries, approximately 15,000,000 are of the Catholic faith. In this compilation the populations in \the various regions lost to Germany by the World War are taken into account.