By Kurt Jensen
OSV News
Discipleship begins by simply saying yes. That was the message of Seattle Auxiliary Bishop Frank R. Schuster, bishop promoter of the Stella Maris ministry, at the annual Maritime Day Mass in Washington.
Stella Maris, also known as the Apostleship of the Sea, is the international Catholic organization for the social and spiritual welfare of seafarers and those in the maritime industry.
The Mass, established in 2005, was celebrated May 23 in the Crypt Church of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. It followed the National Day of Prayer and Remembrance for Mariners and All People of the Sea. Bishop Schuster, joking that he had to Google the number before the service, said there were 1.9 million seafarers “out in the world right now.” That total includes fishing crews, merchant mariners, port personnel and those who work on cruise ships.
Founded in 1920 in Glasgow, Scotland, the ministry is now present in 53 maritime ports and in 26 states, with more than 100 chaplains and pastoral teams. It’s divided into seven regions, with five headed by deacons, one by a priest, and one by lay leader.
“They don’t have a parish. They don’t have a place where they can go and pray,” Sister Joanna Okereke, assistant director of pastoral care of migrants, refugees and travelers at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Secretariat of Cultural Diversity, told OSV News.
Sister Okereke is the U.S. national director of Stella Maris, the name of which invokes the Marian title of “Our Lady, Star of the Sea.”
For seafarers, chaplaincies provide Mass, sacraments, transportation to business centers and internet access, as well as places to relax in port. Chaplains also make ship visits.
“These are challenging times and prayer calms them, so they know they’re not forgotten,” said Sister Okereke, a member of the Congregation of the Handmaids of the Holy Child Jesus.
In November 2025, Pope Leo XIV formally established Stella Maris as an official public canonical legal entity within the church, approved its statutes and instituted it as the central, coordinating body for the global maritime ministry.