In a video message, Pope Francis recently expressed his gratitude to seafarers and fisherfolk for their help in feeding humanity despite the risks involved.

The risks that the Pope alluded to were those caused by coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), which has been wreaking havoc on people’s lives and livelihoods across the world. He noted that the pandemic has inflicted untold suffering on seafarers, making them endure “long periods spent aboard ships without being able to disembark, separation from families, friends and native countries and fear of infection.”