AOS-USA Cruise Ship Priest Program

Cruise Ship Chaplaincy in the Light of the Themes of World Congress XXII

Fr. Jack Treacy &

Crew of Celebrity Mercury

Part I

Why AOS-USA Began

the Cruise Ship Priest Program

Why Did We Wade Into this Ministry?

▪Ministry to Passengers and Crewmembers is the Exclusive Domain of the Apostleship of the Sea.

▪Many Passengers had Complained to the USCCB About the Presence of Rent-a-Priests, Apostates, Heretics and Schismatics Serving on Board as Priests.

▪Priests, Who Had Been Relieved of Pastoral Assignments Because of Credible Accusation of Sexual Abuse of Minors Could Begin to Flood Cruise Ship Ministry.

Why Did We Wade Into this Ministry?

▪Manning Agencies Were Placing “Priests” on Ships. However, they had no ability to ensure these men were valid Catholic priests in good standing.

▪Serving on Cruise Ships was Dominated by a “Good Ole Boys” Network.

▪Hundreds of Catholic Seafarers Who Sailed on Each Cruise Ship Would Now Have Access to the Church’s Pastoral Care.

Fr. Julian Barrosa w/ Celebrity Passengers

Part II

How Does One Join & What Does One Do?

How Does the AOS-USA Cruise Ship Priest Program Work?

▪Submit Membership Application & Photo

▪Submit $60.00 Annual Membership Fee

▪Obtain Letter from Competent Authority Stating that He has Permission to Participate in This Ministry.

Fr. Felix Petrovsky & Guest Priest on M/V Ryndam

What Does the AOS-USA Secretary General Then Do?

▪Prepares a Photo Identification Badge▪Adds New Member to List of Approved Priests▪Sends list of Approved Priests to Contracted Cruise

Lines▪Informs Priest and His Competent Authority That He is

on the Approved List▪Emails Priest a copy of the Cruise Ship Priest Manual

Sec-Gen Doreen Badeaux at

AOS- USA Command Central

But When Do I Get My Cruise?

How Priests Are Assigned to Cruises▪At Certain Times During the Year, the Four Cruise Lines Prepare their Sailing

Schedules

▪All Priests on the Approved List Are Notified by Email of the Day and of the Time When the Lists Will be Released

▪Once a Priest Receives the List, He Checks His Calender, He Chooses the Cruises that Interest Him, and Submits These Selections to the Assignment Agent (AOS-USA does not do this task)

▪After a Few Weeks, the Assignment Agent Informs the Priest Which Cruise(s) He Was Assigned.

Fr. Thomas Behan On Board the M/V Summit

I Got the Cruise, Now What Do I Do?

The Cruise Ship Priest’s Primary Ministerial Duties

▪Celebrate Daily Mass for the Catholic Passengers

▪Lead Ecumenical Services as Directed by the Cruise Director

▪Visit the Infirmary Every Day

▪Offer At Least One Mass for the Crew per Week

▪Be Available to Crewmembers for Confession and Spiritual Direction

If I Join the AOS-USA Cruise Ship Priest Program, Can I Really Get a Cruise, or

Do You Just Get My $60!

The Numbers for 2006

▪669 Registered Cruise Ship Priests from15 countries

▪3 Contracted Companies (Celebrity, Holland America and Norwegian Cruise Lines)

▪33 Cruise Ships Covered by Contracts

▪790 Cruises Were Served by AOS-USA Priests

Fr. Sinclair Oubre Celebrates Sunday Mass on M/V Galaxy

Part III

Canonical Reflections for the Developments of

Cruise Ship Priests

2007 is the 10th Anniversary of the Promulgation of the motu proprio Stella Maris

Exsul Familia Nazarethana

Through this encyclical, Pope Pius XII

Establishes a New Maritime Ministry▪Promulgated on August 2, 1952▪Was focused on coordinating the Pastoral Care of Migrants and

Refugees▪Established the Office of Ship Chaplain - Distinct From the Apostleship

of the Sea▪Norms and Faculties Were Issued by the Consistorial Congregation in

1954 & 1957

Fr. Howard Clark Celebrating Mass on the M/V Rotterdam

After Vatican II & 1977 Norms

The Office of Ship Chaplain Is Suppressed:

▪Primary Responsibility for Maritime Ministry Shifted to Diocesan Bishop▪“Special concern should be shown for those among the faithful who, on account of their way of life, cannot sufficiently make use of the common and ordinary pastoral care of parish priests or are quite cut off from it. Among this group are . . . seafarers . . . ”(Christus dominus, §18)

▪The Waves of Migrants & Refugees Accompanied by Their Clergy Declined

▪The Great Ocean Liners Were Laid Up by Trans- Oceanic Jet Liners

▪Many of the faculties and privileges for ship chaplains that were in Exsul Familia, and subsequent Norms and laws, were now incorporated in the norms and laws for AOS chaplains.

After Vatican II & 1977 Norms

More Than 650 Cruise Ship Priests

Only 10 Are AOS Chaplains, and Have Special Faculties Ennumerated in Stella Maris

Crew Mass on M/V Gallaxy

With more priests serving on cruise ships, it may be time to revisit Stella Maris & the old office of ship chaplain under the

new name of cruise ship priests.

Three Liturgical Issues that Point to Revision

▪Who Should the Priest Pray For in the Eucharistic Prayer While At Sea

▪Difficulty of Performing Marriages as a Cruise Ship Priest

▪Need to Re-establish Faculties to Absolve Censures and Penalties

Conclusion

In conclusion, the development of the Cruise Ship Priest Program has removed a scandal from the seas. It has opened the possibility of ministry to hundreds of new priests. Simultaneously, it has brought awareness to them of AOS Ministry and has spawned new AOS Port Chaplains. It has brought the sacramental life of the Church to tens of thousands of seafarers working in the cruise line industry. It has also challenged us to look to the past in order to more effectively respond in the future. By revising Stella Maris to take in the cruise ship priests, or by developing stand-alone norms and faculties under the auspices of AOS, I believe that we can more effectively evangelize the millions of people who cruise every year, and more fully minister to the tens of thousands of seafarers who supply the special experience the passengers desire on our modern cruise ships.

Our Lady Star of the Sea...Pray for Us