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To mark Sea Sunday on 9th July, our new blog is written by Doug Duncan of Apostleship of the Sea (AoS), an agency of the Catholic Church that looks after the faith, pastoral and practical needs of seafarers.  Doug has been supporting the stranded Indian crew of a ship detained in Aberdeen since June 2016. 
 

The words of St Mathew’s gospel “I was a stranger and you welcomed me” probably best sum up my involvement with the abandoned seafarers from the offshore supply ship mv Malaviya Seven, which has been stuck in Aberdeen port for almost a year now.

The men are all Indian nationals and some of them have been on the ship for that length of time. Not surprisingly, it has been really difficult for them.
 
I have been supporting the seafarers since their vessel was detained. They were last paid in July 2016 and the crew on board as well as several of those who have now gone home are owed more than $650,000 in unpaid wages.
 
The seafarers’ predicament not only affects them, it also affects their families back home who have food, living accommodation and other costs to pay.  Several have school children and higher education fees to pay. This is one of their main worries and stresses – how to support their families back home in India.
 
I had a phone call from one seafarer’s wife asking me “What can you do?” It’s really sad to hear someone at the end of the phone crying and pleading “When is my husband going to get home?” Unfortunately, I don’t have the answer.
 
AoS ship visitors and I have gone on board the ship daily, talking to the men, providing practical help such as taking them to the dentist, hospital, arranging to get their hair cut – just making sure they’re not forgotten and are cared for during this anxious time.
 
We try and keep their spirits up and provide much-needed escape by taking them out and about to see local places of interest. So far we’ve visited local castles including Balmoral, Crathie, Fyvie and Dunnotar. We also visited nearby cities and villages including Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness and Stonehaven. Just recently, we took a few of them to Pittodrie Stadium and to an indoor cricket match.

We've also taken them to Mass - we attended Stations of the Cross during Lent, the Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services, and Easter Mass during Lent and Easter. They thoroughly enjoyed it. One Hindu seafarer requested a visit to a Sikh temple to celebrate a special day for him so we made the necessary arrangements.

 
Last November I arranged for Bishop Hugh Gilbert to go on board the ship. He spent time with the crew, shared a meal with them and blessed both the seafarers and the vessel. The crew said “It was the most remarkably auspicious event for all of us. The ship’s atmosphere is now well charged with great positivity, divinity and great blessings of Almighty Lord the God.  Divinity has approached us miraculously.” 
 
The local parishes and community have been very generous, buying groceries and toiletries and making the crew feel welcome. The men spent Christmas with the Goan community, who invited them to a gathering, prepared Indian food, and shared dancing and games.
 
Pope Francis calls on those who work for the wellbeing of seafarers and their families to “be the voice of those workers who live far from their loved ones and face dangerous and difficult situations”. Seafarers are often referred to as 'the invisible on the margins of society'. By highlighting the situation of the Malaviya Seven crew AoS hopes to make them visible. Let the Lord bring light into their situation.

 

*Sea Sunday falls on July 9. Find out more about Sea Sunday and the work of AoS and how you can play a part in supporting seafarers at www.apostleshipofthesea.org.uk

picture by Mark Leman

Rose sang us a song. It was a gospel number - more Janice Joplin than Charlotte Church, despite her young age. Before pulling her scarf to her face and breathing deeply into the material stretched across her hand, she said she’d sung in her church choir.

 

After a few minutes in 14-year-old Rose’s company, my nose began to run. I felt nauseous and dizzy and remembering my days as a journalist investigating substance abuse some decades ago, I knew these were the classic symptoms of sniffing solvents. Rose’s ‘substance’ smelled like the cheapest of lighter fuels.

 

In Scotland, laws have prevented the sale of glue and butane gas to children for many years. But in Zambia in 2017, the economic downturn has increased the street children problem, and the substances available on the street have become more deadly. The children – some as young as eight, many in their early teens like Rose – use empty plastic bottles to concentrate the poison. Or like Rose, they simply pour it onto a piece of cloth that passes for a scarf or the cuff of a ragged sleeve. Then they breathe deeply to assuage their hunger and anaesthetise them into a disturbed sleep that helps pass the night.

 

One of Rose’s friends was heavily pregnant. It was difficult to judge how old the boys were - their bodies pre-pubescent because of the lack of nourishment. At other sites around Lusaka, Zambia’s capital city, we met boys huddled around braziers and children who swarmed around the gratings of supermarkets. The temperature in Zambia can sink as low as 5 degrees during the night at this time of year.

 

When Fr Renato Sesana, known as Fr Kizito, set up the Mthunzi Children’s Project in 2001, the street children problem was bad. I had attended a pan-African AIDS conference in Zambia at the end of the 1990s when it had been discussed as an outcome of the HIV-AIDS pandemic that would have to be addressed. I was introduced to the Mthunzi orphanage in 2002 and in the coming years set up a charity in Argyll to support the education of its residents. As our role changed, so did our name and we are now ZamScotEd, supporting education of vulnerable children in the wider community. Support in our diocese and beyond has been generous.

 

The first residents at Mthunzi had sniffed glue. But few of those children had been addicted and their progress (some now work in a range of jobs including social work, accountancy, journalism and nursing) was not impeded once they were well fed and nurtured at the orphanage.

 

The world economy, however, has intensified the effects of poverty in countries like Zambia. Jeremy Corbyn asked if it was right that so many people in the UK have no home and only a street to live in. Of course it isn’t. But with Nigel Farage calling for a curtailment of overseas aid, it is little children in countries like Zambia whose very lives are threatened .

 

Rose may die before anyone gives her the chance to sing in her church choir again. Meanwhile, Mthunzi outreach social worker Edward Kambole hopes 11-year-old Joseph can be admitted to Mthunzi before more harm befalls to him. Joseph had been beaten up the night we met him and was terrified.

 

Our chain of action offers rescue from the streets, rehabilitation, followed by education that can break the poverty cycle. But ZamScotEd can only spit against the rainy season. A decent overseas aid budget that seeks to address gender and poverty issues can affect real differences in terms of migration and peace. Meanwhile, we’re working for justice for Rose, Joseph, and all the Zambian kids whose bellies are empty.

 It might seem strange to read a blog about anything military on the Justice and Peace website, but we must remember that the members of the Armed Forces are our brothers and sisters, in need of pastoral care and deserving of our love and respect as men and women created in the image and likeness of God .

Last month saw the 59th annual pilgrimage take place for the various Armed Forces throughout the world.  The Pilgrimage, begun in 1958 as an act of reconciliation between French and German troops after WWII, is now an act of international fraternity and celebration, fostering camaraderie between soldiers, sailors and air personnel of the nations that take part.  This year 41 countries participated, with around 20,000 pilgrims attending.

The theme was “Dona Nobis Pacem” (Grant us Peace), echoing Pope Francis’ message for the World Day of Peace 2017. Lourdes is not a place to cure, but it is a place to heal.  With this in mind it is fitting that each year the IMP takes place here, bringing together Catholics, non Catholic Christians and those of no faith at all. As Pope Francis says, “Whoever accepts the Good News of Jesus is able to acknowledge the violence within and be healed by God’s mercy, becoming in turn an instrument of reconciliation.’ And In the words of Saint Francis of Assisi: “As you announce peace with your mouth, make sure that you have greater peace in your hearts.”

Although ours is very much like any other pilgrimage in Lourdes, being military we march wherever we go - and that was no easy feat for me! On the first full day, we marched to St Joseph’s Chapel for a Penitential Service where we had a chance to go to confession or just have a chat with one of the padres. The chaplains then led their various groups around Lourdes, “in the footsteps of St Bernadette”.

Holy Mass was celebrated and after the compulsory photos in front of the Basilica we had the International Opening ceremony. All the pilgrims from the 41 different countries gathered and prayed for peace. In the evening, there was an opportunity to attend the blessing of the sick.

On the Saturday, we celebrated an early Mass at the Grotto, joining with the American, Canadian, Irish and Norwegian contingents. This was a truly moving experience, to stand below the spot where our Blessed Mother appeared to St Bernadette. 

After Mass and breakfast, the pilgrims went with their chaplains to pray the Stations of the Cross.  In the afternoon, a group attended the ceremony at the War Memorial in the centre of the town of Lourdes. This is one of the more serious occasions of the pilgrimage where those who died as a result of war are remembered and peace is prayed for. 

After a display by the band of Rifles and the Irish Defence Force band, we took part in the torchlight procession. I’ve taken part many times, so I know the atmosphere and drama, but watching the faces of the young naval recruits I processed with was a blessing. Being part of such a gathering of people praying and singing hymns is indeed a moment of Grace.

Our final full day in Lourdes was marked with Holy Mass, followed by the blessing of candles and a prayer service with the lighting of the candles. We again reflected on Lourdes’ message of peace and offered prayers for our families, friends and those who were injured or gave their lives in pursuit of freedom and peace.

Each evening of the pilgrimage nearly everyone descends on the pubs and cafes to socialise with pilgrims from around the world. Anything from badges to full uniforms are swapped! This helps to break down barriers and fosters peace and good will, something which Our Lord and His Blessed Mother most certainly would wish for.