VATICAN CITY (CNS) ─ Ahead of the celebration of World Fisheries Day Nov. 21, the Vatican asked Catholics to think about the perils faced by people who fish for a living and to advocate for their rights.
"Lamentably, many fishermen face storms far beyond the seas: low income, job insecurity, poor working conditions, being far from their families," wrote Cardinal Michael Czerny, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.
"We must not forget that behind each catch there is a life, a family, a call to integral development," he wrote in the message released at the Vatican Nov. 14.
The world day, the cardinal said, calls attention "to the way of life in the fishing sector. It also supports sustainable fishing, recognizing and rendering homage to the fishing communities of all the world and highlighting the importance of this activity for human life and the health of ecosystems."
For the Jubilee year, Catholic celebrations of World Fisheries Day will have the theme "We have not caught anything, but at your word I will let down the nets" from Luke 5:5.
"This is what fishermen do every day. They let down their nets with hope," the cardinal said.
The cardinal also noted that according to the International Labor Organization, fishing and the occupations related to it are some of the most dangerous professions; some 58 million people worldwide, including many children, work in the fishing and aquaculture industry.
"The church, through the work of the Apostleship of the Sea, aims to be present where fishermen and sailors are suffering the most," the cardinal said. "In coastal parishes and in ports, their chaplains and voluntaries accompany those who endure long absences from their families, dangerous working conditions and hard days at sea, becoming also spokespersons for their dignity."
The same day Cardinal Czerny's message was released, the Vatican published a document from Pope Leo XIV formally establishing at the Vatican a central office of the Apostleship of the Sea to support and coordinate the work, including that of the Stella Maris centers that operate in some 350 ports in 57 countries.
