Bishop Puther celebrated Mass on Seafarers’ Sunday at Our Lady of the Visitation Church, Taperoo, along with the interim national director of the Apostleship of the Sea, Father Roger Manalo, and parish priest Fr Brian Angus.

The Stella Maris Centre’s acting director Ian Keane said the bishop’s visit was only organised 10 days before the event but everyone rallied to tidy the centre, set up the hall for morning tea and prepare the church for Mass.

“We had twice as many volunteers as expected at the working bee and it was all completed in just over an hour,” said Mr Keane.

With more than 50 per cent of seafarers coming from the Philippines, an invitation was sent to the Filipino Catholic community and some of its members offered to provide morning tea.

More than 250 people packed into the church and Bishop Puther spoke in his homily about the predicaments faced by seafarers, in line with the theme of “In the Midst of the Storm”.

A map showing all the places in the world where seafarers docking in Outer Harbour have come from proved a hit with worshippers.

After morning tea, Bishop Puther and Fr Manalo were taken on a tour of the port.

A collection for the Apostleship of the Sea was conducted in parishes throughout the Archdiocese.