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Annual Sea Services Pilgrimage and Mass
October 4, 2020 @ 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm EDT
Join us for our Annual Sea Services Pilgrimage and Mass.
In addition to praying for a solution to the shortage of Navy priest crisis, we come together every October to ask Mother Seton, the Patroness of Sea Services, to intercede for the safety of all those at sea, for those who have fallen, and for our country. This year we welcome Bishop Joseph L. Coffey from Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA as our main celebrant.
Catholic chaplains in the military numbered in the thousands during World War II. In 2013, there were fewer than 240. Now the situation is even more dire.
The sea services have been hit the hardest in recruiting priests to the military. According to the archdiocese, the Army has 118 Catholic chaplains for roughly 100,000 active duty Catholic soldiers. The Air Force has about 60 for about 63,000 Catholic airmen. The Navy, however, only has 52 active Catholic priests for its roughly 107,000 Catholic sailors and Marines. That means one priest serves over two thousand men and women.