CHARLOTTE — Father Frank O'Rourke, pastor of St. Gabriel Church in Charlotte, announced earlier this month he will join Crystal Cruise Lines as its Catholic priest for World Cruise 2016, Jan. 24-May 11.
"I will join a Protestant minister and a rabbi in providing for the spiritual needs of the crew and passengers of Crystal Serenity," Father O'Rourke wrote in the parish bulletin.
Father Ed Sheridan, former long-time St. Gabriel pastor, will serve the parish during Father O'Rourke's absence. Father Sheridan will join Father Gabriel Carvajal-Salazar, parochial vicar, and Father Fidel Melo, priest in residence, to minister to parishioners' needs along with "our deacons and with our well-seasoned staff," Father O'Rourke added.
The priest will set sail from San Francisco Jan. 25 with a first stop in Honolulu, Hawaii; then off to Sydney, Australia, and several East Asian countries; before sailing back full-circle to U.S. soil via Alaska and San Francisco.
Father O'Rourke described his ministerial duties while on the Crystal Serenity: "I will offer Mass each day and on weekends have a vigil Mass on Saturday evening, Sunday morning and 10:30 p.m. Sunday evening for the crew in their quarters. So, in some ways, it is much like ministering in a parish with much more leisure and relaxation."
— Catholic News Herald