THE LONELY SAILOR Funds or Ideas Needed ?

SIR,—In your issue of January 23 it is stated that the Organising Secretary of the British National Board of the Apostleship of the Sea told your reporter that " what is lacking above all is funds" so far as the " present position and prospects of the work for seamen in this counrry" are concerned. This may be correct from the point of view front which be visualises the situation, for it would appear that the aim in view is to finance Catholic seamen's homes very much on the lines of Atlantic House. Liverpool, " places where (the seamen) can find the recreation, comfort and companionship they desire," In such ports as Barrow. Birkenhead and Lowestoft to start with.
Now I have no wish to be thought criti cal a this excellent work which is in view, hut what I cannot help wondering is, just how far any lack of failure on the part of English Catholics to deal with the SeaApostolate in an adequate manner is due to the need of money or to be.more definite, Is not the lack of funds due to regarding money as the 'essential basis upon which this Missionaiy work must be started?
In other words, there is the danger of putting the oart before the horse! The
Catholic Sea-Aposiolate, like all Catholic missionary activities, is fundamentally different in its whole ethos to that of any of the big Protestant organisations, such as The British Sailors' Society or The Minion to Seamen. We cannot hope to emulate their achievements, except perhaps in a largely Catholic city like Liverpool. What is more, I would dare to say that I feel that any attempt to copy their methods of raising funds, etc., would sooner or later be doomed to failure, The Apostalatus Mans is first and foremost an extension of Catholic Action in the seafaring world. It needs before all else: (I) a development of Catholic Action by and among sailors themselves, very much on the lines of the Jeunesse Maritime Chrgtienne in France; (7) the formation and training of men and women who are prepared to dedicate their whole lives to this form of apostolate, in other words a Religious Congregation of " Missionaries of the Sea." Such a communityehad already been started in France before the war and had also been discussed in Holland. Strange to say, it was art Anglican parson—the late Fr. Paul Hopkins—who first realised this need, when in 1884 he founded the " Order of St. Paul." a community devoted to charitable and religious works among seamen, particularly the Mercantile Marine of all countries. What Fr. Hopkins saw after much experience of work as a Port Chaplain was that the only really effective way to carry on a seaapostolate was to form a band of workers who were willing to labour for the Love of God, and with no reward but their bare maintenance. It was men not money that mattered in the long run.
Now it is perfectly true that Catholic Ser
vice Centres are urgently needed in many ports hi England, but what I maintain is that they can be started at once without the need of begging for money, provided that we are content with small beginnings and have sufficient trust in Divine Providence. 01 course, it all depends just what is meant by a Catholic Sailor Centre. Has any effort been made to open a room in say, Barrow, Birkenhead or Lowestoft. where Catholic sailors could drop in at any time and be sure of a friendly welcome or practical advice—even a place where they could wait in comfort while waiting to catch a train or a boat back to their ship? Here again, it is the personal element that counts rather than the financial. Such a centre would most probably lead sooner or later to somet1;ing more ambitious. I have not the least doubt that the " poor lonely sailor " would contribute to its establishment and upkeep, for as Fr. Waring remarked to -your reporter; "Seamen are above all generous," and in these times they are mostly of a very different class to what they were even fifty years ago. They want to help themselves as well as being helped by us.
PETER F. ANSON.