With the coronavirus pandemic forcing seafarers to work and live on ships for months and being cautioned not to go on land, the Apostleship of the Sea (AOS), a Catholic ministry for seafarers, is more important than ever.
Compounding the challenges it faces is the fact that Andy Middleton, director of the AOS in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, has come through his own battle with COVID-19.
In early March, as the pandemic began to make waves at the Port of Baltimore, some AOS volunteers expressed concern about visiting ships, so Middleton found other tasks for them at the Stella Maris International Seafarer Center in Dundalk.
He and a few other volunteers continued ship visits, bringing religious items such as rosaries, scapulars and prayer cards along with secular magazines and fiction books. Middleton also continued taking crew members to shop or did their shopping for them.
“When Archbishop (William E.) Lori declared there would be no more public Masses until further notice, that is when we decided to suspend volunteer activities for the foreseeable future,” he said. “The safety and health of our volunteers is my biggest concern.”
Shortly after that, Middleton got sick. It started on a Tuesday evening with chills. When he woke up the next morning, he had a slight fever and an “almost unrelenting” dry cough. He messaged his doctor, who told him to self-quarantine.
The next morning he woke up with a fever and “felt like this was the end.” His doctor had him come in, and diagnosed him with COVID-19.
“There were about five days when I just wanted to die,” said Middleton. “For five days, I didn’t get out of bed, I didn’t eat. I slept and coughed. I didn’t have shortness of breath, but I felt like I could never take a full breath of air.”
On the sixth day, Middleton felt a little better, but everything tasted funny and had the same unpleasant smell. Sweets were the only thing that appealed to him.
“I guess in some way getting sick early on was a godsend, because the Seafarer Center was only out of the loop for a few weeks,” he said.
Once Middleton was symptom-free for 72 hours, he went back to work and continues as a solo operation. Wearing a mask and not boarding, he started visiting ships April 22. He goes as far as the top of the gangway, drops off care bags and inquires about the health of the crew and their families. He also offers to take them shopping, or run that errand for them.
“Unfortunately, a lot of seafarer centers are not operating at this time,” Middleton said. “That is my driving force behind this. I want them to know we are here if they need anything. The church is here.”
A virus can spread quickly in close quarters, and while some crews want to take a break from their ship, their lines might not allow that. In early May, he was able to head to Walmart with a crew stopping at its third port in the U.S., but getting off the ship for the first time.
“The pandemic has given me a better perspective on the life of seafarers,” Middleton said. “I liken what we are going through, not being able to go to Mass and receive the Eucharist, to their daily life out at sea for months at a time. I have a greater appreciation for what they go through.”
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