The rising incidence of piracy on
the high seas and the hijacking of ships calls for improved spiritual
counseling to help crew members prepare for the possibility of and to
recover from such tragedies, said participants at a Vatican conference.
More people were taken hostage at sea in 2010 than ever before, said
Scalabrinian Father Gabriele Bentoglio, undersecretary of the Pontifical
Council for Migrants and Travelers.
According to a 2010 International Maritime Bureau report, 445 ships were
attacked worldwide, 1,181 seafarers were captured, and eight of them
were killed, he said.
"While the owners pay soaring ransoms for the recovery of vessels and
cargos," he said Feb. 14, "seafarers, fishers and their families are
paying the highest price in terms of psychological trauma and other
consequences."
The Italian priest was one of a number of speakers attending a Feb.
14-16 meeting at the Vatican of regional directors of the Apostleship of
the Sea.
Very little professional help is given to victims of pirates, he said,
and the council invited the general commander of the Italian Coast
Guard, Admiral Marco Brusco, to speak about the problem of piracy in
order to help the apostleship better understand what could be done to
support victims.
The apostleship, which provides spiritual care to seafarers and anyone
whose livelihood depends on the sea, is in a good position to help,
Father Bentoglio said, because it has an extensive presence in Asia,
which is the region where the greatest numbers of kidnapped seafarers
are from.
Only the Apostleship of the Sea can provide the kind of comfort and
spiritual assistance that victims and their families need during and
after an act of piracy or kidnapping because the apostleship has "always
been close to the seafarers and deeply attentive to their problems,"
Admiral Brusco said in a written speech.
The speech was read by Admiral
Pierluigi Cacioppo.
The apostleship, which is a worldwide Catholic ministry made up of
chaplains, associates and volunteers, can prepare seafarers and their
families by advising them of the possibility of facing a kidnapping
someday, he said.
But most of all, the apostleship can provide psychological, spiritual
and material support to victims and families "instilling confidence and
showing understanding, increasing the necessary strength in them to face
such a difficult situation, and promoting in Christian communities
attitudes and works of fraternal hospitality," said the admiral.
The general commander said he was committed to providing the apostleship
with "all the informational support needed to carry out this very
important and delicate" task.