Hospitality and compassion: the work and ethics of catholic chaplains supporting seafarers

Relying on the Kindness of Strangers: Welfare-Providers to Seafarers and the Symbolic Construction of Community

“…13 The continuing construction (as it is an everyday process) of the symbolic community of welfare-providers lies not so much in the warmth and camaraderie that they find in each other but in their commitment to the service that they provide to seafarers. Despite their differences, they emerge as "one" with their embodied hospitality (Montemaggio 2018), singular in their desire to serve seafarers-a community united in providing kindness to strangers. ).…”

“…Many call their form of helping out a ministry of presence. Chaplains believe that they “need to be ‘present’ to care for others rather than give charity for their own self-worth” (Montemaggio 2018, 509). Underpinned by the theological precept of welcoming strangers to their fold, chaplains have this to say about the importance of their presence amid the frenetic life of seafarers when in port:It’s just like a ministry of presence in a sense, the biggest part is that you showed up, like if nobody comes to visit a ship then seafarers are even more isolated, even more lonely [.…”

“…Welfare-providers to seafarers are seldom studied as a community in their own right, compared with other social groupings, for example, people patronizing certain types of sports (Fairley and Tyler 2012; Satterfield and Godfrey 2011), athletes (Warner and Dixon 2011), people of faith (Hastings 1999; Kovacevic, Malenica, and Kardum 2021), or people with AIDS (Frey et al 2000). In the current literature on seafarer-welfare port chaplains are the most common point of reference; they are the face of welfare-work in ports (see, for example, Cadge and Skaggs 2019; Montemaggio 2018; Palmer and Murray 2016). They are the embodiment of societal intervention in the well-being of seafarers when they are in ports.…”

“…Furthermore, we want to contribute to discussions of the different ways in which symbolic communities are constituted especially in the context of welfare-work in ports. We highlight how the symbolic communities of welfare-providers though constituted in the spirit of solidarity, compassion for others (Montemaggio 2018), and kindness to strangers can also be constructed (and deconstructed) via disagreements and contestations from within.…”

Manning the waves: Masculinity shift amongst Filipino seafarers in the age of precarity

“…The performance of masculinities by Filipino seafarers diverging from what is perceived to be the proper way of being a man does not, however, mean that Filipino seafarers have changed their attitude toward women in general or there is a transformative decrease of sexism onboard. For example, the overwhelmingly male environment and gender norms onboard can lead to a purely sexual view of women (Montemaggio, 2018, p. 509). When watching films that feature women, there would be a cacophony of sexual jokes and innuendoes.…”