Indian Seafarers Welfare Organization honors Catholic priest for outstanding service
(Photo: Stella Maris-North America FB Page).
Indian Catholic priest in Chennai was awarded for the outstanding service rendered to the seafarers and their families during the pandemic
Father B. Antony, a former Stella Maris Port Chaplain, was honored during the joint 70th World Maritime Day celebration by Indian Seafarers Welfare Organization and Sea Mission International at the Seafarers Club in Chennai on September 23.
The priest received the award from Dr. Tamilisai Soundararajan, the Governor of Telangana and Lt. Governor of Puducherry and Dr. Babu Mailan, Chairman of Indian Seafarers Welfare Organization (ISWOT).
"There is no time to sit and feel pity for people who are struggling. It is an urgent call of humanity," Father Antony told Radio Veritas Asia.
"Who I see infant of me, I couldn't stop me from mitigating their pain. My God showed me these suffering people and gave me the strength to be with them and provide them the needy help. I praise my Lord," the priest said when asked why he serves people who are on the peripheries.
Under the guidance of Father Antony, the organization distributed 5000 face masks, 3000 handy sanitizers, and 35 continuous days of cooked food and groceries.
"It was a great support for the fish folk communities who could not go into the sea to earn their living, especially Kasimode fishermen community in Chennai," the priest says.
Father Antony is a priest of the archdiocese of Madras-Mylapore in the Indian State of Tamil Nadu. The priest has worked with the seafarer's organization for over a decade serving Catholics, Christian, and others, the crew and passengers travelling on the ship. Father Antony offered spiritual and mental wellness programs to support the needs of the seafarers and others.
At the beginning of the pandemic, the crew got stranded at Chennai harbor due to the lockdown in India. Father Anthony sort government intervention and arranged a vehicle from the organization to allow safe travel of the crew to their families.
The priest was known to go out of his way to help the crew members with medical assistance during the height of the covid-19 pandemic.
Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), a media platform of the Catholic Church, aims to share Christ. RVA started in 1969 as a continental Catholic radio station to serve Asian countries in their respective local language, thus earning the tag “the Voice of Asian Christianity.” Responding to the emerging context, RVA embraced media platforms to connect with the global Asian audience via its 21 language websites and various social media platforms.
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