Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People
People on the Move -
N°
88-89, April - December 2002
XI International Seminar
of Catholic Civil Aviation Chaplains
and Chaplaincy
Members
1. Introduction
The XI International Seminar of Catholic Civil Aviation Chaplains and
Chaplaincy Members, organised by the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care
of Migrants and Itinerant People, was held at “Maria SS. Bambina”
Institute in Rome from 22 to 26 April 2002, with the theme “Fidelity of the
Chaplain to His Commitment and Mission”. Seminars for the Catholic airport
Chaplains are usually organised every second year, but this time it was held
after a lapse of five years due to the celebrations of the Great Jubilee of
the Year 2000 that came in between. With seventy participants representing
some forty-six of the world’s most important airports, this was the most
well attended Seminar ever. They came from the continents of Africa, Asia,
America and Europe. Only Australia was absent.
2. Papal Audience
The participants, led by Their Excellencies the Archbishops Stephen Fumio
Hamao and Agostino Marchetto, President and Secretary of the Pontifical
Council, respectively, were happy to be received by the Holy Father during the
Public Audience of in the morning of Wednesday 24 April and to hear his words
of comfort and encouragement. He greeted them saying: “The airports
constitute significant crossroads of human mobility; they are meeting places
of people belonging to various cultures. May your presence and your mission
inside these structures offer to those whom you meet a tangible experience of
the love of Christ.” The Holy Father was available to have a photo taken
with the whole group, showing his solidarity and support of the catholic
airport chaplaincy.
3. Liturgy and Spirituality
As is the custom, the Seminar began with a day of spiritual recollection,
guided by Archbishop Tarcisio Bertone, SDB, Secretary of the Congregation for
the Doctrine of Faith. During the Eucharistic Concelebration, with the
participation of Archbishop Stephen Fumio Hamao, at the Altar of the Chair of
Peter in St. Peter’s Basilica, Msgr. Bertone spoke on the theme:
“Eucharist, Source of Fidelity and Communion”. His second meditation was
held later in the conference hall of “Maria SS.Bambina” Institute on the
theme: “Fidelity of the Chaplain to his Commitment and Mission in the
Airport context”. The Eucharistic Concelebration had a different President
each day: Their Excellencies Archbishops Stephen Fumio Hamao, Agostino
Marchetto and Tarcisio Bertone and Cardinal Giovanni Cheli. Morning and
Evening Prayers were sung in common in the Chapel of the Institute. During the
morning of the spiritual recollection, the participants spent an hour in
Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. The possibility given to pray, meditate
and worship together was deeply appreciated by all the Chaplains.
4. Interventions
The Seminar was officially opened with an address given by Archbishop
Stephen Fumio Hamao, President of the Pontifical Council. Following this,
Msgr. Anthony Chirayath, Official of the same Pontifical Council, presented
the work of the Seminar to the participants. One of the main speakers was Fr.
Velasio De Paolis, C.S., Dean of the Faculty of Canon Law at the Pontifical
Urban University in Rome. He spoke on “The identity of the Airport Chaplain”
and discussed the role of the Airport Chaplain from the perspective of the
Code of Canon Law. He said that according to the Code of Canon Law of 1983, a
Chaplain should be an ordained priest who can provide for the spiritual needs
of the faithful including sacramental celebrations. Though the Chaplain may be
assisted by lay persons or religious, in his ministry, these do no hold the
office of Chaplain.
5. Catholic Civil Aviation Pastoral Directives
Special attention was given to the procedure of revision of the Catholic
Civil Aviation Pastoral Directives, published by the Pontifical Council in
1995, with the whole afternoon of May 23 set aside for this purpose. After the
presentation of the subject by Msgr. Anthony Chirayath, Fr. Slawomir Kawecki (General
Secretary of the European Secretariat of Catholic Civil Chaplains) and Fr.
John Jamnicky (Co-ordinator for Human Mobility Apostolates of the Office for
the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Refugees, USCCB), all the participants took
part in five “Workshops”, which discussed the various aspects of the civil
aviation ministry. The general conclusions were that the “Directives”
should be more practical and less theoretical; that the primary focus should
be toward the Bishops and the Airport Authorities and secondly to Airport
Chaplains; that the Directives should very seriously address the involvement
of the laity.
6. Chaplains’ Role in Crisis Response
Since this was the first meeting of the Chaplains after the disasters of
September 11, 2001, in the United States and the airline crashes in Zürich
and Milano-Linate, naturally one of the important matters discussed during the
Seminar was the role of the airport Chaplain in crisis response. Fr. James
Devine of New York JFK International Airport and Fr. Richard Uftring of Boston
Logan International Airport spoke about their experiences during the crises
and Deacon Claudio Cimaschi of Zürich International Airport and Fr. Giovanni
Tremolada of Milano-Linate Airport told the assembly what they did when
disasters struck their airports. They said that it was the Chaplain who
brought together the airport community and family members so that their faith
could be a source of strength, hope and comfort at a time of crisis.
7. Reports of Women working in Chaplaincy Teams
Since there were several women members of the chaplaincy team present at
the Seminar, the programme included listening to their voice. In the afternoon
of April 25, Sr. Teresa Brogan from Paris-CDG Airport, Sr. Bernard Nkando of
Lusaka Airport, Helen Mulli of Nairobi Airport and Sr. Ewa Grzegorczyn of
Warsaw Airport spoke of their experiences in their airport ministry. They said
that it was important for women to be part of the airport ministry, especially
since they could understand and share the sentiments of people in difficulty
and in grief.
8. Solidarity with brother Chaplains
The airport Chaplains expressed their willingness to assist financially
needy airport Chaplains from Asia and Africa to make it possible for them to
participate in future Seminars. They said that this should be done through the
office of the Pontifical Council.
9. Celebration at Rome-Fiumicino Airport
On April 25, the participants of the Seminar were invited by Fr. Giorgio
Rizzieri, Rome-Fiumicino Airport Chaplain, for a visit to the airport. On the
occasion, Cardinal Giovanni Cheli, President Emeritus of the Pontifical
Council, presided over a solemn Eucharistic Concelebration in the beautifully
decorated airport parish church of “Our Lady of the Angels”. Their
Excellencies the Archbishops Stephen Fumio Hamao and Agostino Marchetto,
President and Secretary of the Pontifical Council, respectively, were also
among the concelebrants. Several representatives of the Airport Authorities,
Service and Security staff took part in the celebration. Later the guests were
welcomed to the new airport terminal and to the airport chapel. The Airport
Authorities, in collaboration with the management of “Hilton Rome Airport”,
offered a luncheon to the visiting Chaplains.
10. Press
The Media, both religious and secular, showed great interest in the Seminar.
TV, radio and press published news, interviews and photos of the events of the
Seminar on a large scale. It is hoped that the vast echoes in the media will
have positive effects in sensitising and promoting this modern ministry, which
is not easy as it is in the frontier of modernity.
(prepared by Rev. Msgr. Anthony Chirayath)
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