At Our Lady of Good Counsel in Locust Point, Charles, a native of India, has been a welcome presence at Sunday Mass. But Deacon Steve Sarnecki hopes the day comes when he no longer sees him there.
Charles, a crew member of the Dali, the cargo ship that lost power and struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge March 26, 2024, remains stranded in the U.S. He and his fellow crew members cannot leave the country until they testify in court about the disaster.
Charles allowed Deacon Sarnecki to tell his story but not use his last name.
“He’s worried. He’s nervous. He doesn’t know what the lawyers are going to ask him,” said Deacon Sarnecki, who serves in the pastorate of the Catholic Community of South Baltimore, which includes Good Counsel and Holy Cross. “He wasn’t the captain or the chief engineer. He was an assistant to an assistant in the engine room.”
Beyond the uncertainty, Charles misses his family.
“He has a nice apartment. They are feeding him, but he is separated from his family in a culture that is not his own,” Deacon Sarnecki said. “My heart broke when I put him on Facebook with his wife.”
While seafarers are used to long absences from home, this is different, Deacon Sarnecki explained. The crew is not out on the open sea, engaged in their usual work.
“Work is sacred,” he said. “There is beauty in work.”
The bridge collapse didn’t just affect the crew. It disrupted lives across Baltimore. Longshoremen were out of work for months, relying on state aid and union support. Even with the port now reopened, things are not the same.
Before its collapse, the bridge could be seen from the front steps of Good Counsel, a parish that includes workers for the Port of Baltimore.
“The port is still not recovered,” Deacon Sarnecki said. “The volume of work is not what it used to be. I would love to see exhausted longshoremen.”
When the bridge fell, “it really did change everything,” Deacon Sarnecki said.
To make a donation to the Francis Scott Key Bridge Relief Fund, click here. To make a donation to Apostleship of the Sea, click here.
Email Katie V. Jones at kjones@catholicreview.org
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