“There are very few atheists among seamen”, declared the bishop of Cádiz-Ceuta, Monsignor Antonio Ceballos Atienza, on the occasion of the Feast of Our Lady of Carmine on 16 July: a feast that preludes the day devoted to the maritime apostolate on the following day. To mark the day, the bishops of Spain have written a pastoral exhortation with the title “I respect the sea. What about you?”. The problems of seamen were at the centre of the two days of celebration: seamen are “men of great faith, too often exposed to accidents and tempests of every kind”, said Bishop Atienza. The Spanish bishops exhorted them to pray to the Blessed Virgin Mary in moments of difficulty: “She is a fundamental reference for us all”. The bishop of Cádiz-Ceuta has also written a letter to the faithful, emphasizing that to work in the apostolate of the sea “you need to have the sea in your blood, but first of all you need to have Christ and the Church in your heart”. The feast of Our Lady of Carmine, said the bishop, “is a day to remember the Church’s commitment to seamen”. Noting that there are “too many accidents at sea”, he urged that “the causes and responsibilities for these misfortunes be examined”. Apart from natural storms, “the storms that fishermen have to confront each day are of quite another kind: international exploitation and utilitarianism”. Bishop Luis Quinteiro Fiuza, promoter of the Day of Maritime Apostolate on behalf of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference, has invited “Christian families to support seamen in their difficulties” and appealed for respect for the sea, recalling that “it is the only source of income for many families, a boon for humanity and a gift of God”.
