Stella Maris Manila News Vol. 2, Issue 1 January
January 2011
There are no strangers here, only people we have not yet met.
Happy New Year to ALL!
AOS Vision
Apostleship of the Sea– Manila Planning for a fresh new start...
We, the AOS-Manila, commit our selves to witness and proclaim the Gospel Values to seafarers/ fishermen and their families.
AOS Mission An integral evangelization of ourselves and of those entrusted to our ministry.
AOS Goal To reach out to: seafarers, fishermen, families, maritime students, maritime stakeholders.
Last Dec 6 & 7, 2010, the Apostleship of the Sea– Manila Office Staff went to Lagos del Sol, Cavinti, Laguna for a 3 year plan and staff bonding. Headed by AOS Manila Director , Fr. Paulo H. Prigol, a Scalabrinian Missionary, directed and guided the AOS Staff into the formulation of the AOS Vision, Mission and
In Photo: Fr. Paulo Prigol,CS (AOS Director), AOS Staff: Nards Servidad, Sr. Marivic Ching, sjbp, and Sr. Flor Salimbagat, sjbp. -photo by Isa Yñiguez
continued on page 2...
German Friends visited AOS-Manila
At the center of the photo are Karin and Kaja from Germany flanked by the residents of the Stella Maris—Pius Seafarers Center also in the picture are the Pastorelle Sisters Flor and Marivic (AOS Staff).
Last October 2010, Kaja Grope of Kiel, Germany and Karin Kreuder, of Hamburg, Germany came to visit the Philippines to do some studies on the Filipino seafarers and their families. They sought the assistance of AOS–Manila to arranged with AMOSUP Hospital for continued on page 8...
Stella Maris Manila Newsletter
AOS – fresh new start ...cont’d from page 1 Goal. With a clear direction for the AOS Manila all its programs are geared in bringing Christ to those who are entrusted in its care .
The National Seafarers’ Day is a continuing activity of the Apostleship of the Sea as mandated by Presidential Decree 1094 and that the NSD will be celebrated every last Sunday of September. This year it will be celebrated on September 25, 2011. For more details wait for the next Stella Maris Newsletter issues.
Part of the 3 year planning is to strengthen the Value Formation Programs for maritime students, Seafarers and to their families. AOS—Manila has re-invented the program to suit the need of the present time. This seminar is a half-day formation offered for free to maritime colleges especially for graduating students.
Schedule of NSD meetings will be every 3rd Tuesday of the Month at the AOS-Manila Conference Room at 10:30am. The much awaited NSD Oratorical Contest and Art Contest for maritime students are schedule on September 20, 2011 and on September 22, 2011 respectively, venues are yet to be determined .
Ship Visiting will continue to be one of AOS-Manila’s apostolate program to extend our presence to the ship’s crew whose ships are docked in the Ports of Manila. Pre-departure Orientation Seminar (PDOS) tackles the gains and pains of seafaring but it also focuses on the Value Formation that will help guide seafarers live a Christ centered life on board.
For the NSD Memorial Rite at Sea. A memorable spiritual experience in remembering the deceased seafarers and all sea travelers that perished is held on board a PCG vessel right off the Manila bay.
Sick Visiting To visit the sick seafarers and seafarers families confined in the hospital or at home. Many of whom are just happy to see our sisters when they are visited not for anything else but the feeling of visited.
NSD Eucharistic celebration it will be held on September 25, 2011 at the Manila Cathedral at 10am . Inter-Dorm Sports Tournament will be held at SCPM to promote sportsmanship.
Christian Leader Formation Program & ExtraOrdinary Eucharistic Minister (on-board) Program will help develop seafarers to be Christian Leaders leading the ship’s crew to pray devotional prayers and para-liturgical celebrations. Networking with CBCP - Episcopal Commission for the Pastoral Care of the Migrant’s and Itinerant People (ECMI) will strengthen our Parish & Seafarers Family programs. This program is reaching out to families not just in Manila but all region of Luzon. Advocacy & Lobbying. For the promotion and protection of the Filipino Seafarers’ rights the AOSManila has widened its network partnership with the Government Agencies like POEA, OWWA, MARINA, PPA to mention a few and also with PMRW, CCFOW, PCHAN and other NGOs. Publications for distributions. AOS publishes its Stella Maris Newsletter quarterly. It is sent out via e-mail to contacts locally and all over the world, to seafarers and their families. Jesus and the seafarer prayer card is widely given for free to propagate the seafarers prayer.
16th NSD September 25, 2011
Publications from other sources are also distributed freely during ship and hospital visiting. 2
Vol. 2, Issue 1 January 2011
Stella Maris Manila Newsletter
AOS-Manila-Staff Bonding Moments
Vol. 2, Issue 1 January 2011
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Stella Maris Manila Newsletter
AOS-Manila-Staff Bonding Moments
Photos by Isa Yñiguez—AOS Staff 4
Vol. 2, Issue 1 January 2011
Stella Maris Manila Newsletter
A Divine Grace from the Scalabrinian Missionaries
Bro. Loyd Philip Divinagracia is the youngest of a family of five. He first answered the call to serve the Lord as a diocesan seminarian and at present committing himself for the Missionaries of St. Charles, Scalabrinian. A native of Negros Oriental, Philippines, he took his philosophy degree at St. Joseph Seminary College of the Diocese of Dumaguete and his theological studies at Seminario Mayor de San Carlos of the Archdiocese of Cebu. He took Theologies of Migration at Loyola School of Theology, Ateneo de Manila. Presently, he is helping the Apostolatus Maris (AOS-Manila) of the Archdiocese of Manila visiting seafarers in ports and in hospitals.
Duc in altum! Vol. 2, Issue 1 January 2011
AOS-Manila supports the Campaign against Maritime Piracy By: Bro. Loyd Philip Divinagracia—AOS-Manila Piracy is a major problem in the maritime industry today. The growing number of armed-robbery episodes at sea around the globe is alarming. Consequently, piracy does not only constitute financial loss but more seriously it affects lives to victims, such as seamen, and inevitably their families left behind. As of 2006, 239 incidents of maritime armed robbery were recorded in various maritime locations. But in 2009 the occurrences of such crime doubled reaching the latest toll to 406 cases (Maritime Piracy – A Humanitarian Response, Symposium, AMOSUP Convention Hall, Intramuros, Manila, December 7, 2010). With such criminal incidence, thousands of seafarers are in danger, making the sea a dangerous place for them. Thus, most of these cases happen in the Somalian Coast which as there has been no coordinated actions from authorities has become dreadfully deadly. This scenario is not what we see in movies popularizing the adventurous life of these brigand pirates. Movies such as Pirates of the Caribbean starred by Hollywood actors Johnny Depp and Keira Knightley and of course the funny tale of Captain James Hook in the Hook movie with Dustin Hoffman and the funny Robin Williams and many other Pirate films. In the actual incidents, the horrid accounts of fear, torture, and in certain extent death comprise the real encounter of victims under the hands of pirates. The dehumanizing events taking place in such crime cause traumas that surely affect the seafarer’s life for a considerable long period of time or may perhaps a lifetime. That is why, to protect seafarers from the terrors of maritime piracy, solutions must be made. The initiative made by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) supported by seafarers’ unions, ship operators, insurers and welfare organizations petitioning a decisive action to solve this problem should urge governments around the world to take part. Subsequently, at present, the International Law governing maritime activities does not have clear guidelines on how to deliberately handle or to persecute apprehended pirates. This considerably caused maritime robbers or pirates to continue this profitable crime. In response to this world-wide advocacy, the Apostleship of the Sea (AOS) participated a symposium-cum-training organized by the Filipino Association for Mariners’ Employment Inc. (FAME). This event aimed to heighten public awareness on the huge effect of piracy to the maritime industry. This symposium-cum-training held last December 7 and 9, 2010 in the Associated Marine Officers’ and Seamen’s Union of the Philippines (AMOSUP) building in Intramuros Manila was well attended by government agencies, manning agencies, union representatives and welfare organizations in the country. It provided the participants the theoretical concepts of crisis interventions on the impact of traumas experienced by victims of piracy. With this, AOS commends FAME for the opportunity and the invitation given to us. The symposium-cum-training has introduced several insights that help us in our ministry. Hence, in unison with all welfare organizations in the maritime industry in the cause to eradicating piracy, AOS stamps our support to end maritime piracy and dedicate our efforts to work for the betterment of the seafarer’s life. 5
Stella Maris Manila Newsletter
AOS/SMCS/SCPM 2010 - Christmas Party at Avilon Zoo
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Vol. 2, Issue 1 January 2011
Stella Maris Manila Newsletter
AOS – Manila Advent & Christmas Activity
With Sr. Flor’s initiative the AOSManila Staff gathered to celebrate the blessing of the crib and the image of the infant Jesus.
s ristma h C 1 201 mily next l l i t PM Fa C … S / o! SMCS -Ho-H o H AOS/ ! r gethe get to
Fr. Paulo lead the rite and blessing. Advent candles were lit-up every Monday as the week began.
“Come Lord Jesus and be born in our Hearts!”
Photos by Isa Yñiguez—AOS Staff
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Stella Maris Manila Newsletter
Karin and Kaja ...cont’d from page 1 them to document the seafarers and seafarer’s family members. Thanks to the cooperation and kindness of AMOSUP Hospital, Karin and Kaja were allowed to visit and to take some pictures to document the close family ties of Filipino seafarers. They were accompanied by AOSManila Staff Srs. Flor & Marivic. They also visited AOS-Manila Centers—Ermita and Pius. Took some pictures of the residents and staff.
PRAYER FOR SEAFARERS Dear Lord, we ask you to take all Seafarers into Your care and protection. Make them alert and wise in their duties, Help them to be faithful in the time of routine, prompt to decide and courageous to act in any time of crisis. Protect all our Seafarers from the dangers and perils of the sea; and even in storms—natural or spiritual—grant that there may be peace and calm within their hearts. When they are far from home, far from their loved ones and from their homeland, give them the grace to be quite sure that, wherever they are, they can never be beyond Your loving concern. Take good care of our loved ones in the days and weeks and months when they are separated from us—sometimes with half the world between us. Give us the grace to be true to them, and keep them true to us. And when we have to part, bring us together again in safety and loyalty. This we ask for your love’s sake. Oh mother Mary, star of the Sea, guide us and our beloved seafarers. Though separated often, help us to grow in love of one another and Your Son, Jesus. Amen.
Apostolatus Maris Seafarers Center, Inc. Apostleship of the Sea—Manila 1175 UNITED NATIONS AVE. COR. CORREA ST., PACO, 1007 MANILA PHILIPPINES TEL NO. 63 2 527 0337; FAX NO. 63 2 527-2638 aosmla@info.com.ph
PIUS — PIUS XII
Stella Maris Star of the Sea, Pray for us.
CATHOLIC CENTER
ERMITA — METROBANK BLDG.
1175 UNITED NATIONS AVE. COR. CORREA ST., PACO, 1007 MANILA PHILIPPINES TEL NO. 63 2 527 0337
1149 A. MABINI COR A. FLORES STS., ERMITA, 1000 MANILA PHILIPPINES TEL NO. 63 2 525 9435
stellamaris_pius@yahoo.com
stellamaris_ermita@yahoo.com.com
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Vol. 2, Issue 1 January 2011