The Pope has brought the attention by highlighting the plight of merchant seamen and fishermen who may face dismal working conditions and be kept from going ashore when their ships dock in foreign ports.
What happened?
On July 8, Pope Francis marked the Catholic Church’s “Sea Sunday” by praying for the world’s estimated 1.2 million seafarers and their families during his traditional Sunday blessing.
The Vatican office which is responsible for coordinating pastoral care for seafarers issued a message lamenting that boat owners and employers increasingly are refusing to give crews permission to go ashore either because of ship policy or immigration regulations.
The Vatican alleged that chaplains are being denied access to communicate with the crew members who belong The Vatican says chaplains also are being denied access to crew members, many of whom are Christians and coming from countries such as Ukraine and the Philippines.
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Source: ABC
