The Vatican has called on Catholic communities to stand in solidarity with maritime workers, describing them as “pilgrims of hope” in a message for Sea Sunday 2025.
Cardinal Michael Czerny, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, issued the message ahead of the annual observance on July 13, urging the faithful to reflect on the often invisible work of seafarers and their contribution to the global economy.
“We want all those who work at sea to know that they are in the heart of the Church: they are not alone in their demands for justice, dignity, and joy,” Czerny said.
The message, framed within the Church’s Jubilee Year of Hope, invites reflection on labor justice, fraternity, and the concrete conditions faced by maritime workers.
“Integral human development, in fact, includes all human beings and all their physical, spiritual, and community dimensions,” the cardinal wrote.
Early this year, the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) reported an 87% increase in cases of seafarer abandonment in 2024.
According to the ITF, 3,133 seafarers were abandoned last year, up from 1,676 in 2023. The number of vessels involved more than doubled, rising from 132 to 312—a 136% surge.
The ITF has attributed the spike to systemic failures, including lack of enforcement by flag and port states, minimal oversight under Flags of Convenience, and the refusal of some shipowners to take responsibility for their crews.
In his message, Cardinal Czerny stressed the urgency of responding to such injustices, saying the Jubilee calls Christians “to conversion: breaking chains, forgiving debts, redistributing resources, meeting in peace.”
“The whole Church is also called to consider how people work in ports and on ships today, with what rights, under what conditions of safety, with what material and spiritual assistance,” he said.
He also underscored the dignity of maritime labor, calling seafarers “pilgrims of hope” who, consciously or not, “embody the desire of every human being… to live a life of dignity, through work, exchange, encounters.”
According to the ITF, India had the highest number of abandoned seafarers in 2024 at 899 cases, followed by Syria (410), Ukraine (288), the Philippines (273), and Indonesia (192). A total of US$20.1 million in wages was owed to seafarers, with US$10.4 million recovered so far.
Flags of Convenience—systems that allow shipowners to register vessels under foreign jurisdictions with looser regulations—were responsible for 90% of the abandoned ships, the ITF said. Panama topped the list with 43 cases, followed by Palau (37), Tanzania (30), Comoros (29), and Cameroon (20).
Czerny called on dioceses near seas, rivers, and lakes to promote awareness of maritime issues and embrace the sea as “a physical and spiritual environment that calls us to conversion.”
He thanked Christian seafarers and their colleagues of other faiths for their courage and resilience, saying: “You are pilgrims of hope every time you work with care and love; every time you keep alive the bonds with your families and your communities; every time that in the face of social and environmental injustice you organize yourselves to react and respond courageously and constructively.”
“The sea binds all lands,” he added, “invites them to look at the infinite horizon, to feel that unity can always prevail over conflict.”
