To all AOS Chaplains, Pastoral Team Workers, Colleagues and Friends,

Peace of Christ!

A little over a month ago, the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded and then
collapsed into the Gulf of Mexico, rupturing the wellhead and spilling
5,000 barrels a day of oil into the sea. Eleven maritime workers were
declared missing in the disaster and are presumed dead. Several options
had been used to stop the spillage but no immediate solution has been
reached.

To date, at least six million liters of petroleum have already been
spilled, according to U.S. Coast Guard estimates, making it one of the
worst U.S. oil spills in decades.  Tens of thousands of fishers and their
families who make their living by the sea will be adversely affected.
Animals, including birds and marine life, as well as plants living along
the southeast coast of U.S.A. are all at risk. The impact that this
disaster will bring to our environment, the lives of fishers and their
families and to the world is already unthinkable.

The Apostleship of the Sea in particular has always been very much
concerned about the seas and oceans as much as we have been for the People
of the Sea who get their living from these sources and are closely bound
to their environment.

During the 20th World Congress of the Apostleship of the Sea held in Davao
City, Philippines, 1997, Archbishop Giovanni Cheli said:
"The suffering caused by the human and ecological costs of market economy
excesses on fishing and merchant maritime world are unbearable, first of
all to the people of the sea.  The seafarers, fishers, their families and
all the people of the sea... make them the first ones to see and
experience if something is going wrong... and that, they are among the
victims, if not the first victims, of this state of affairs.  Our use of
the land and the seas and everything they contain always remains in the
context of a response to God's invitation to cooperate in his Creation.
This is not a right to use and abuse without any restrain and discipline."

This was reinforced and clarified by Pope Benedict XVI in his latest
encyclical, Caritas In Veritate - "The Church has a responsibility towards
creation and she must assert this responsibility in the public sphere. In
so doing, she must defend not only earth, water and air as gifts of
creation that belong to everyone. She must above all protect mankind."

As members of the Apostleship of the Sea, we are now faced, more than
ever, with the challenge of putting our mandate into practice.  We have
been given the task to provide pastoral care to the seafarers, the
maritime workers and the people of the sea.  And now, we need to be at the
forefront of this endeavour to attend to those affected by this
catastrophe.

Let us remember that the Motu Proprio (Stella Maris) spells out very
clearly the guideline for the Apostleship of the Sea in providing pastoral
assistance for people involved in commercial shipping and in fishing - as
well as their families, port personnel and all who travel by sea.

This statement is only the first step in fashioning an ongoing response to
this challenge.

I am inviting all members of AOS, our fellow workers in this ministry and
friends, to join us in a continuing effort -

1) To have a proactive stance in reaching out, advocating and providing
pastoral care to those affected by the disaster - more specifically to the
maritime workers, the fishers and their families.

2) To be one in prayer for an immediate resolution of the crisis and that
its effect will be minimal and contained;

3) To understand and act on the moral and ethical dimensions of the
environmental crisis;

May our blessed mother, The Star of the Sea, be with you always!  God bless!


Rev. Mr. Albert M. Dacanay
Regional Coordinator