World Fisheries Day: time for reflection on Church’s Apostleship of Sea

(Vatican Radio) With the Paul VI hall in the Vatican taken up by Pope Benedict XVI’s weekly General Audience Wednesday morning, participants at the Congress for the New Evangelization in the Maritime World had a morning break to enjoy the Roman sunshine.
The hundreds of participants of the five day congress come from 70 countries and work in the church’s pastoral ministry to seafarers called the Apostleship for the Sea. In their reflections Wednesday afternoon, delegates will be considering their apostleship to Fishermen and women. Wednesday also marks World Fisheries Day, celebrated by maritime communities the world over as a day to remember the precious resources of our seas and advocate for sustainable fishing practices.
According to the EU’s Fisheries Secretariat, fisheries and aquaculture support the livelihoods of an estimated 540 million people, or eight percent of the world population. The U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization says people have never eaten as much fish as today and more people than ever are employed in or depend on the sector.
Tracey McClure spoke to the Archbishop of Beirut, Lebanon, Paul Matar, about the Vatican Congress. Though the Archbishop of one of the Middle East’s most important industrial and touristic ports, it is the first time he is participating in an Apostleship for the Sea congress. He says he has been surprised how much there is to learn about the lives of maritime and dock workers, and the psychological and physical stress and loneliness they and their families undergo. He’s been so moved by the stories he’s heard during the Congress that he says he will immediately put into practice the things he has learned in a new pastoral outreach program when he returns home.
Listen to the interview with Archbishop Paul Matar: