In a message to participants in the 25th World Congress of Stella Maris (the Apostleship of the Sea), Pope Francis expressed his hope that “Stella Maris will never waver in drawing attention to the issues which deprive many within the maritime community of their God-given human dignity.”

Some maritime workers, the Pope said, “continue to suffer from a variety of unjust working conditions and other deprivations, aggravated not least by the effects of climate change. Moreover, damage to marine environments, as to others, disproportionately affects the poorest and most vulnerable of our brothers and sisters, whose very livelihoods are even threatened with extinction.”