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.
