Basing his reflection on the insight of Vatican II that whatever is genuinely human resonates in the hearts of Christians, the Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, Cardinal Michael Czerny, assures "all those who work at sea … that they are in the heart of the Church; they are not alone in their demands for justice, dignity and joy."

In his message for Sea Sunday on July 13 — observed each year on the second Sunday of July — Czerny insists that the Good News of the Risen Christ demands that Christians question "even more radically … the existing order, because the Kingdom of God calls us to conversion."

So, he continued, "the whole Church is called to consider how people work in ports and on ships today, with what rights, under what conditions, with what material and spiritual assistance."

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In concrete terms, Czerny called on Catholics "to shine some light on what lies behind our economies, on those who make them work on a daily basis, often not benefitting from them at all and indeed exposing themselves to discrimination and danger."

He expressed a desire to recognize seafarers as "pilgrims of hope" who "embody the desire of every human being … to live a life of dignity, through work, exchange, encounters."

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Hope, the cardinal explained, "must always remind us of our goal: we are not wanderers without a destiny, but daughters and sons whose dignity no one and nothing can ever erase."

And because we are all brothers and sisters coming from and returning to the same home, "we can hope." "Already today, solidarity among ourselves and among all living beings can be stronger and more alive," Cardinal Czerny said.

After thanking seafarers and their colleagues, whatever their religious or cultural affiliations, the prefect tells them, for being pilgrims of hope, the prefect invites them "to be bridges even between enemy countries, prophets of peace."

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At the same time he asked ecclesial communities, and especially dioceses encompassing seas, rivers or lakes, "to promote attention to the sea as a physical and spiritual environment that calls us to conversion."

(This story is reprinted with permission by Vatican Media.)