SEATTLE – Decades before Father Tony Haycock became chaplain at the Catholic Seafarers’ Center, he was a seaman himself.

As a teenager growing up in England, he worked on fishing boats, often in rough seas. Later, after becoming a priest, he lived in South Africa and Germany, becoming fluent in Afrikaans and German, as well as Spanish.

Father Haycock’s global experiences and linguistic skills (and a repertoire of sea-going tunes) have come in handy during his 22 years of ministry based at the Seafarers’ Center, located not far from the waterfront in Seattle’s Belltown neighborhood. 

“We’ve helped a lot of people, seafarers from around the world, all different nationalities,” Father Haycock said recently. “When their ship gets into port, they come here to watch television, visit our snack bar, talk or go shopping. The center is a place for seamen to rest after being aboard ship for months at a time,” he explained. “We invite those of all faiths or no faith at all, to let them know someone cares, to be hospitable.”

The center, a ministry of the Archdiocese of Seattle, began 75 years ago with the appointment of the first port chaplain by Bishop Gerald Shaughnessy. The original Catholic Seaman’s Club opened its doors in 1940, then pulled up anchor and moved twice before landing at its current site 1956.

Changing times

Today, the ministry includes a full-time paid driver who picks up crewmen from their ships and shuttles them to shopping venues around the city. Volunteer drivers are needed, especially those who can speak languages other than English, said Erica Cohen Moore, the center’s executive director.

The crew members’ spiritual needs are met with on-ship visits from Father Haycock — who they call “Father Tony” — for Mass and Communion. “Father Tony is currently the only Catholic doing ship visits, but we are hoping to include a handful of others,” Cohen Moore said.

These volunteers would provide a pastoral presence — “anything from a Communion service to just being present to the men and women on the ships,” she said. “It’s sharing a life story; it’s being present to someone who’s been at sea for months.”

The center also is working to expand its ecumenical relationship with United Port Ministries, which also works at the Seattle port, Cohen Moore said.

The center remains connected to the port and its unions through regular maritime industry luncheons held at the center. “Their support has provided us access for years,” Cohen Moore said. Each year, Holland America Line, a longtime supporter, sponsors a cruise ship luncheon with all proceeds benefitting the center.

Honored for his work

Before landing in Seattle, Father Haycock served in England’s Royal Marines, then was ordained as a Trappist monk in Ireland. The next year, he joined the Salesians, a teaching order, and spent seven years in South Africa during the racial strife of the apartheid era. He studied theology in Germany before coming to the U.S., where he served at several parishes in Seattle before becoming the seafarers’ chaplain in 1992.

For his years of work at the center, Father Haycock received the Puget Sound Maritime Achievement Award from the Propeller Club of Seattle in 2007 and the Gertrude Apel Pioneering Spirit Award from the Church Council of Greater Seattle in 2010.

Now 77, Father Haycock, officially retired in 2011, but he continues spending much of each day at the center or on ships in the harbor. 

“It’s just been such an incredible ministry for so many years,” Cohen Moore said. “We’re always working to meet the ongoing needs of changes at the port and the seafarers.” 

Learn more about the Catholic Seafarers’ Center or call 206-441-4773. Donate online or by mail: Catholic Seafarers’ Center, 2330 First Ave., Seattle, WA 98121.