On a 45-day cruise last fall, Lilian Quinlan went to daily Mass. “It was wonderful. The highlight of my cruise was being able to go to Mass,” said Quinlan.

“It’s such a gift to be on the ship and to have a priest,” agreed Angela Lorio, who sails with husband Neal and their 12-year-old son John Paul who has special needs. “We go about every day when there’s a priest who offers Mass on the cruise, more than we get to daily Mass at home. You go down a few decks, and you’re there.”

Experiences like these show that despite being on the ocean for several days and in some cases weeks, Catholics do not have to leave their faith back on land or at the dock. Some cruise lines have a priest aboard during some sailings. Priests are pleased with the sacramental convenience for the countless Catholics among the more than 20 million cruise goers annually. “More people come to daily Mass on a ship than I ever found in my parishes,” Father Gary Padgett, pastor of St. Bridget and St. James Churches in Louisville, Kentucky, told the Register. “They could be there about one minute from their cabin room. It’s so immediately accessible.”

He recalled one cruise in particular. “We had a full house for Mass every day — 50 people — even when we were four days in Antarctica — and on the weekend, Sunday Mass, a much larger group.”

A veteran chaplain of 25 cruises over a decade, he has been “pleasantly surprised” about onboard Mass attendance.

“They repeatedly tell us it’s such [a blessing, the] ability to go to Mass.”

Spiritual Lifeboat

These ocean-going vessels also become a temporary parish, with all of the same situations priests attend to on land, including death. When a priest is on board when someone dies, those in charge “know they can rely on us and really help either the crew members who are dealing with it or the family on board, because it’s something we do for a living,” Father Padgett said. “We can talk with them. We can offer Mass for the loved ones.”

Father William Reynolds, a retired priest of the Diocese of Davenport and current administrator of Sacred Heart Church in Newton, Iowa, was chaplain on a ship in port in Mexico when he was called by a family: An 82-year-old woman collapsed and died on her balcony. “I was called to the medical center. She was traveling with her husband, their son, his wife and children — three generations traveling together,” he explained. He comforted the family and that evening celebrated a memorial Mass for her.

Another time, he was called to accompany an officer to a cabin of two senior citizens, husband and wife, who just received word that their daughter died tragically. “What a terrible thing that was for them,” Father Reynolds recalled. That evening he celebrated a memorial Mass for their daughter, joined by fellow Catholics aboard. “They were very happy with that,” the chaplain recalled.

He stressed the importance of having a priest chaplain on cruise ships for such situations as well as the occasional out-of-the-ordinary experiences, such as burials at sea. He has done four, involving cremated remains of a spouse; the burials were arranged with the ship and chaplain for proper Catholic funeral rites. “In one instance, I had an older man bury the cremated remains of his wife. He was not Catholic. I saw him on the ship several times. He was always very grateful. This man was apparently so touched by what happened,” Father Reynolds said.

Onboard, priests are also there for the crew, many of whom are from highly Catholic countries such as the Philippines.

Another time, on one cruise docked in the Bahamas, two crew members perished during an accident in the engine room. Father Reynolds offered a memorial Mass. “We prayed for the crew members, their families, and all the crew on the ship at Mass, and that brought a lot of comfort to people.”

Confession for Cruise Goers

Father Reynolds, who has done many Atlantic, trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific sailings, opens the door to other sacraments when introducing himself to cruise goers. He always says, as the cruise gets underway, “I’m available for confession.”

So is Father Padgett, a veteran of 25 sailings. “I used to ask the question myself, ‘Who would go to confession at sea?’” he told the Register. “I learned who goes: people who want to go to confession and don’t want to go at home because the priest knows them. They’re at sea, they’re halfway around the world, and they’re never going to see me again, perhaps. They’re able to go, particularly to spend a real long time [confessing].”

Pastoral Care

Encounters like these are not uncommon for a chaplain on a cruise ship, whose seafaring chaplaincy is possible through membership in the Apostolate of the Sea of the United States of America (AOS-USA) that works closely with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Father Reynolds serves as vice president for the administrative board of AOS-USA. Father Padgett, a lawyer prior to ordination, is an AOS-USA board representative.

A private association of the faithful, AOS-USA vets and approves priests for ministry onboard cruise ships. The association began this screening process after cruise lines requested of the bishops a way to ensure “a real priest” would be onboard to celebrate the sacraments. The catalyst: The lines were hearing complaints from passengers — several laicized priests and even charlatans posing as priests were being unknowingly booked aboard as chaplains. Once the bishops’ Committee on Migration studied the issue, in 2002, they decided to have the AOS-USA facilitate a cruise priest program. The AOS-USA set about ensuring that only good, legitimate priests were aboard the cruise lines after the bishops became aware of these concerns, explained Doreen Badeaux, secretary general of the AOS-USA.

“They basically gave us the protocols for what they expected us to do in screening the priests,” Badeaux said. The office for this program then opened in June 2003. Then, as now, the office is always in need of more priests.

As for a cruise with an AOS-USA-approved priest, people are assured that “they get access to having the priest on board, whether it’s for Mass and religious services or even just for pastoral care and counseling,” said Badeaux. “The priest is there for every soul on board … whether they’re Catholic or not. There’s a lot of need for pastoral care.”

Badeaux has heard countless touching stories of these priests’ ministry, such as a Methodist gentleman who called to tell her what the priest being there meant to the family. His wife was Catholic, a daily communicant. She had terminal cancer and wanted to take a cruise. With a priest aboard, she was able to attend Mass. Then, during the cruise, he was called to their room to offer the sacraments before she died. “She never left God, and he was there for her at the end,” the husband said, according to Badeaux. “Her Church was with her in the middle of the ocean.”

Having a priest close is a comfort to Lorio, whose husband suffers from two serious medical conditions. If he would need the sacrament of anointing of the sick, “the thought of not having a priest is extremely disheartening,” she said. “It’s just critical to the lifeblood of Catholics.”

But not all situations are so dire, as chaplains also attend to happier occasions. Father Padgett said when Filipino crew members change their cabins, they ask him to bless their new spaces, much like a house blessing. “You see how meaningful that is to them.” And there are weddings too.

When two crew members only had a three-month window to get married before their next assignment, he recalled, “getting their marriage preparation [ashore] was going to be almost impossible.” He stepped in, did their preparation and sent everything to their church in the Philippines, and they were able to marry. They have a sacramental marriage “because a priest was there and figured out a way to make this work,” he stressed.

As a canon lawyer, Father Reynolds has even assisted with an annulment, helping a woman through the process. “It began by meeting with the parents on the ship,” he said. Back ashore, he added, he “helped later remotely to succeed in getting an annulment.”

Priests on board are vitally important, yet not all cruise lines have priests aboard. Some limit priests to longer and “legendary” sailings.

Passengers can contact AOS-USA to see which ships of the four lines that the association currently works with will have a priest chaplain onboard a particular voyage.

“We ask them [cruise goers] to let the cruise lines know how important it is to them that they offer this service,” Badeaux said. “That’s who they’re going to listen to. It’s really important that Catholics speak up.”

When they do, they find a church in the middle of the sea.

Maritime Parish

Regular “cruisers” Jim and Mary Stoltz had an unforgettable cruise in April 2023. “One of the things we look for first when we’re looking to book another cruise is — is this going to be one that has a priest on board?” Mary told the Register.

The Stoltzes were setting sail with their three adopted daughters and one son, all with Down syndrome — and they had a very particular request. Before their Eastertide cruise, the Stoltzes asked the AOS-USA if their children could make their first Holy Communion on the ship.

“They surprised us and said, ‘Oh, there’s a bishop on board as well.’” Late Salesian Father Dennis Donovan worked with Bishop Emeritus Robert Lynch of the Diocese of St. Petersburg, Florida, to make the sacrament happen. Bishop Lynch was the principal celebrant, and he had Father Donovan administer the first Communions because the children knew him. Bishop Lynch well remembers that celebration. “When I saw them, they just won my heart,” he told the Register. “They were beautiful and the parents absolutely incredible.”

Everything made “the moment a “very meaningful and uplifting experience,” Mary recounted.

And so it is for the priests. Father Reynolds said of the blessed moments of seafaring ministry: “It’s been such a rewarding and good experience — and a share in people’s happiness.”

And it has a lasting impression on needy souls. Father Padgett shared one particularly moving memory.

“I had one veteran from the Second World War; he was much older and had not been back to church in 50 years. He learned there was a priest on board, wanted to make amends — thought this was his best chance of going to confession and going back to the faith. It was very emotional and very moving. Then he started coming to Mass on board. He said, ‘You just can’t imagine what this means to me.’ And I said, ‘You can’t imagine what it means to me.’”