Catholic seaman's mission Stella Maris
.jpg)
Stella Maris is the name of the Catholic seaman's missions in many countries - including Germany. They are part of the international Catholic work Apostleship of the Sea worldwide . There are two Stella Maris institutions in Germany: one in Hamburg , the other in Bremen (responsible for Bremen and the Lower Weser ports). The Catholic institutions look after seafarers around the world with pastoral care and in almost all social matters.
Surname
Stella Maris translates as the star of the sea . It is the name of Mary, the mother of Jesus who is venerated as saint, especially in the Catholic Church. She in turn has been one of the patron saints of seafarers for centuries . The name Stella Maris refers to the litanies of Saint Augustine and appears for the first time in the 4th century.
history
Mission and, above all, pastoral care for seafarers in Germany was initially a task that clergymen in the cities dominated by the Hanseatic League took on. In addition, some seafaring societies formed their own brotherhoods with a church character as early as the 14th century. They financed themselves through a kind of alms giving, which was precisely defined: each skipper of this brotherhood had to deliver "a ton of St. Annen vöringe", that is, the yield for a ton of freight. The money was used to finance a high mass and subsequent feast for the Epiphany (January 6th) - but also to support social institutions such as seafarers' poor houses and the first forerunners of seamen's homes.
Catholic work on seafarers began as an independent "mission" in England. In 1920 it was Peter F. Anson who, in a plea "a plea for seamen", vigorously advocated Catholic work on seafarers. In his article he compared the "neglected" work of Catholics on seafarers with that of Protestants and came to the conclusion: "The greater the activities of the Protestant missions, the greater the danger that Catholic seafarers are exposed to."
With a papal blessing (1922), the targeted establishment of our own Catholic seafaring missions worldwide began.
In Hamburg, the founding phase of the Stella Maris Catholic Seamen's Mission is primarily associated with the name of Hans Ansgar Reinhold . The Catholic clergyman was one of the founders of the International Apostolate of the Sea in 1930. As its general secretary, he organized the German section of this apostolate and founded the first Stella Maris mission in Hamburg in 1933. The German department of the apostolate developed early into a center of resistance against National Socialism. Reinhold was targeted by the Gestapo and fled from Germany to the USA in 1935.
The Catholic Seamen's Mission had to vacate their first own house in Hafenstrasse 93 as early as 1936. The second domicile at Hopfenstrasse 34 was confiscated by the Gestapo in 1941. After the war, Stella Maris built a larger seaman's home at Reimarusstrasse 12, which is now a private hotel. Since 2015 Stella Maris has moved into an old lock keeper's house right in the harbor.
offer
Stella Maris offers spiritual, liturgical and pastoral services, conversations, church services both on the ship and in your own chapel, the dispensing of sacraments and ship blessings. For seafarers, the most important part of going ashore is contacting their families back home. Stella Maris provides the necessary equipment for this: Internet services and laptops.
It is also possible to watch TV in different languages, sing karaoke, have a barbecue in the summer months and play table tennis.
Stella Maris Hamburg - prayer room
Stella Maris Hamburg - prayer room
Stella Maris Hamburg - prayer room
Stella Maris Hamburg - lounge
Stella Maris Hamburg - computer room
Stella Maris Hamburg - entrance
Shuttle service
Seafarers do not come home for many months. During the term of their contract (often 9 months) they work and live on the ship, at their place of work. There is often more to do in the port than at sea: administrative work, maintenance work, loading work and security can prevent seafarers from going ashore.
A shore leave is therefore often only possible for a short time, if at all. In many places, going ashore is made more difficult by strict safety regulations . In many terminals it is not allowed to walk. There is often no internal shuttle service that transports seafarers between the gate and the ship, and taxis do not have the required safety equipment. This means that only the seafarers' missions come to the ship with their appropriately equipped cars and can transport the seafarers.
The seafarers are then driven either to the seaman's mission or to shopping wherever they want.
On-board support
If the seafarers are unable to leave the ship, on-board attendants go to the ship. They offer phone cards and magazines, if available in the local language. In cases where seafarers are dependent on medication, the support of the seamen's mission, for example with procurement in pharmacies or in the seafarer's outpatient clinic at the port hospital, is particularly important. Other focal points of the on-board support work include a. Pastoral care and mediation in labor law problems.
At an audience in the Vatican in June 2019, Pope Francis granted the ship chaplains far-reaching powers. They are given the same powers as the Missionaries of Mercy .
collaboration
Today the Catholic Mission Stella Maris works regionally with the Protestant German Seamen's Mission and internationally in the International Christian Maritime Association (ICMA). In Hamburg, for example, there is joint on-board support in the port of Hamburg . There Stella Maris works with the three Hamburg evangelical seamen's missions and the seafarer's pastor of the North Church in a joint team of on-board visitors. Furthermore, an economic seafaring service is held annually in the Church of St. Gertrud , which Protestant and Catholic missions hold together.
The joint on-board support team also takes care of seafarers who require hospital treatment. Since the ship cannot wait for the sick person and continues to sail without him, the seafarer who is left behind is supported by visits to the hospital with material and spiritual help.
Web links
- Stella Maris Hamburg
- Stella Maris Bremen
- The International Christian Maritime Association (ecumenical association of Christian seafaring missions, English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Homepage Apostleship of the Sea. Retrieved July 17, 2019 .
- ^ Lensch, Friedrich: 75 years of the German seaman's mission in Hamburg RV 1891 - 1966 . Hamburg 1966, p. 27-32 .
- ↑ a b c Roald Kverndal: The Way of the Sea: The Changing Shape of Mission in the Seafaring World . 2008, p. 83 ff .
- ↑ On- board visitor ID, hard hat, safety vest, yellow warning light on the car
- ^ Seaman's ambulance at the Hamburg harbor hospital Groß-Sand. Retrieved June 27, 2019 .
- ^ Website of the Hamburg boarding service. Retrieved July 15, 2018 .
- ↑ Pope: Ship chaplains have the same powers as the Missionaries of Mercy. Retrieved June 30, 2019 .
- ↑ Missionaries of Mercy. Retrieved June 30, 2019 .
- ^ Seafarer pastor of the North Church. Retrieved July 17, 2019 .
literature
- Gerhard Besier, Peter Schmidt-Eppendorf: Hans Ansgar Reinhold (1897–1968) writings and correspondence - a documentation. Münster 2011.
- Roald Kverndal: The way of the Sea - the changing shape of mission in the seafaring world. Pasadena Cal. 1986.
Coordinates: 53 ° 31 '34 " N , 9 ° 58' 31" E