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Spiritual and Pastoral Care for Filipino Seafarers, Fishers, and their Families

by Bishop Ambo David, Bishop of Kalookan and President, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) (Speech given during the ICMA Ahoy! Training Course on February 22, 2023 at the Midas Hotel in Manila, Philippines.) Let me begin by thanking the International Christian Maritime Association for inviting me to this training and immersion course.  As […]

ICMA Members Cooperate to Produce a Bible for Seafarers

by Andy Dakin, NMBS and Rev. Nicolaj Wibe, Indenlandsk Sømandsmission The Seafarer’s Tagalog-English Diglot New Testament and Psalms – The NMBS Story: Since my first experience of ICMA, at the 2018 Malmo conference, it has been my aim to ensure that NMBS supplies the Christian resources that the ICMA ministries need.  At that time, I […]

Bishop Brendan Cahill on the Importance of Maritime Ministry

On February 14, 2023, NAMMA visited Bishop Brendan Cahill in Victoria, Texas to learn about the importance of seafarers’ ministry. Bishop Cahill serves as the Bishop Promoter of Stella Maris in the United States. NAMMA visitors included Dcn. Paul Rosenblum and Dr. Jason Zuidema. Listen to the interview here or read below (lightly edited for […]

Ship Welfare Visitor Course Online Refreshed with a Focus on Rights at Sea and Security

by Joel Holt, MNWB The Merchant Navy Welfare Board’s (MNWB) popular Ship Welfare Visitor course has been updated with a greater emphasis on rights at sea and security. The course is aimed at all employees and volunteers of charities within the maritime sector, from port chaplains carrying out ship visits to volunteers driving the local […]

Shore Leave Improving in West Coast Ports, but Concerns Remain

by Susan Huppert, NAMMA The role of chaplains in the ministry to seafarers extends beyond the spiritual. It is holistic at its core.  During recent months, as the global pandemic has subsided and the vaccination of seafarers across the globe has reached most seafarers, one ongoing concern is restrictions to shore leave. Along the northwest […]

In the News: Seafarers’ Ministries in North America 2022

by Jason Zuidema, NAMMA Often, seafarers’ welfare is done ‘under the radar’. It is often said that the general public does not pay all that much attention to shipping, a proverbial “sea blindness”. In previous years, this has meant that seafarers’ welfare providers needed to spend that much more time justifying their work and educating […]

Christmas Meditation: “Hail, Full of Grace”

by Dcn. Paul Rosenblum, President (NAMMA) / Stella Maris (Charleston) In the Catholic tradition, it is customary that during the fourth week of Advent the Mass readings come from Saint Luke’s “Infancy Narrative,” where he describes for us all of the events that led up to the Nativity. They are all beautiful and meaningful, but […]

Gift by Gift at Port Arthur

by Susan Huppert, NAMMA The dynamic seafarers’ ministry in the Port of Port Arthur, Texas, is welcoming seafarers to its center with Christmas cheer and boarding ships with gifts. The local Stella Maris outreach operates through the Diocese of Beaumont under the leadership of Fr. Sinclair Oubre. He has been the Diocesan Director of Stella […]

Cleveland Seamen’s Service Provides Christmas Cheer

by Susan Huppert, NAMMA Though we are all supposed to dream of a White Christmas, snow and ice can be challenging for seafarers. This is true on the Great Lakes in the winter when things freeze over. This year, by surprise, a Christmas celebration took place onboard a ship docked at the port in Cleveland, […]

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