Gulf Pine Catholic

18 Gulf Pine Catholic • September 15, 2023 International Seamen Center Collection: Sept. 16-17 Please give generously in your parish collection, or mail donations to: International Seamen Center Collection c/o Diocese of Biloxi, 1790 Popps Ferry Rd., Biloxi, MS 39532 • For over 70 years, the Apostleship of the Sea (AOS) has been the Catholic Church’s response to the spiritual needs of the seafarer, who does not otherwise fit in the traditional structures of Catholic ministry. • Seafarers bring 95% of all the goods used and consumed in the U.S. But these seafarers often suffer loneliness, exploitation and spiritual deprivation in the process. On behalf of the United States’ Catholic community, AOS port chaplains and ship visitors welcome seafarers to our shores, provide for their practical and pastoral care and enable Catholic seafarers to receive the sacraments. • The Apostleship of the Sea ministry reaches out, in the name of Christ, to seafarers from all countries without regard to religion or race, offering them the welcoming and consoling message of Christ. • Pre-Katrina, the Port of Gulfport ranked among one of the busiest ports on the Gulf Coast, and as part of the ministry to seafarers, the Seamen’s Center provided a home-away-from-home for thousands of seafarers whose ships visited the port each year. The center offered a place for the seafarers to post letters, place overseas phone calls to their families, play ping-pong, read in the library area, or watch television. Of course, all of that was destroyed in the hurricane. Currently, the Diocese of Biloxi’s AOS chaplain, Deacon Dick Henderson, visits seafarers onboard ships to celebrate a Communion Service when a priest is unavailable to celebrate a Mass onboard. • The Diocese of Biloxi, along with representatives of the Episcopal, Presbyterian, Southern Baptist, and United Methodist churches, supports the ministry by providing volunteer chaplains and lay people to visit ships entering the Port of Gulfport and to offer local transportation for seafarers to replenish their personal supplies at local retailers. She quoted part of a dramatic address that Sister Thea gave to the nation’s Catholic bishops in 1989, in which she said that as a Black Catholic, “I bring my whole history, my traditions, my experience, my cul- ture, my African-American song and dance and gesture and movement and teaching and preaching and healing and responsibility -- as gifts to the church.” Mumbach pointed out Sister Thea’s special connec- tion to Howard University: She spoke at the school after the 1968 assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Naming the university’s new Catholic student center after Sister Thea honors her role as a Black Catholic leader, she said. “We as Black people have gifts to share with the church. This is a part of our ministry at Howard,” Mumbach said. “In HU Bison Catholic, we are raising up and equipping the next Black Catholic leaders. We hope that this is the first of many Bowman Centers on HBCU campuses – that in the same way there are Newman Centers to remember and honor the great work of (St.) John Newman, we can celebrate, com- memorate and carry on the legacy of Sister Thea Bowman.” After the ceremony, Father Nutt, who wrote Sister Thea’s biography, said he was very moved that Howard University’s new Catholic student center was named for her. “She was my teacher, my mentor and my spiritual mother,” he told the Catholic Standard , Washington’s archdiocesan newspaper. “It was hard to hold back the tears, because I know how much this would mean to Sister Thea Bowman. She loved her time inWashington, D.C. It was here she became greatly aware of her iden- tity of being Black and Catholic. She was inspired by the large number of Black Catholics in the archdiocese, and they welcomed her with open arms.” He added, “I know she will inspire them (the stu- dents here) to share their gifts of Blackness, not only with Howard University, but with the whole church.” In Washington, Sister Thea Bowman earned a mas- ter’s and a doctorate degree in English from The Catholic University of America, and in 2022, a street at the campus was renamed as Sister Thea Bowman Drive. That same spring, Georgetown University renamed its chapel in Copley Hall after her. Mark Zimmermann is editor of the Catholic Standard, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Washington. Thea Bowman Student Center From page 14 To include your parish and school events and activity information in “Diocesan Briefs”, email that information to: tdickson@biloxidiocese.org. Abuse allegations down, but challenges remain, say US bishops in report BY GINA CHRISTIAN WASHINGTON ( OSV News ) -- Abuse allegations against Catholic clergy and religious in the U.S. declined last year, but challenges remain with pro- tecting vulnerable adults and ensuring online safety, according to the U.S. Bishops. On July 14, the USCCB’s Secretariat of Child and Youth Protection released the “2022 Annual Report -- Findings and Recommendations on the Imple- mentation of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.” USCCB president Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio said in his preface the report was “a milestone accounting of the continued efforts in the ministry of protection, healing, and accompaniment.” The document -- covering the period July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2022 -- noted that 1,998 individuals came forward with 2,704 allegations of abuse, with claims down 399 from 2021 and 1,548 from 2020. The decrease was largely due to resolutions of allegations received through lawsuits, compensation programs and bankruptcies. Sixteen reports during the period involved current minors, with all other allegations made by adults citing abuse as minors. The secretariat said in its assessment “the year- over-year trends are encouraging as the number of current minor allegations in the U.S. remains low.” However, while many dioceses and eparchies are exceeding the specific requirements of the Dallas Charter, specific challenges remain in ensuring review boards function properly, and in clarifying reporting procedures for abuse against “vulnerable adults,” which are treated under the motu proprio “Vox Estis Lux Mundi” rather than the charter.