ARCHDIOCESE OF MELBOURNE RELEASE
Antarctic Jesuit
Kairos Volume 24, Issue 2
Words Fr Michael Smith SJ
Pictures Anna Pearson and Fr Michael Smith SJ
I HAVE a ‘bucket list’ of things that I want to do before I die, and one of those was to visit to the South Pole.
I doubted I would ever tick off that item until I heard about the Antarctic Chaplaincy Program coordinated by Fr Dan Doyle of Christchurch Diocese in New Zealand. I emailed him to see if there was a possibility of my being a chaplain at McMurdo Station, the US research centre on the shore of McMurdo Sound in Antarctica. He informed me that a space was available in December 2012. I could go if I passed the medical.
Because Antarctica is so remote and medical facilities are limited, if you want to travel there you must undergo extensive medical and dental checks beforehand. I passed the tests and on 6 December 2012, flew to Antarctica from Christchurch.
I had researched Antarctica before I went, but nothing prepared me for the physical vastness and the beauty I encountered when I stepped out of the aircraft onto the ice runway. Psalm 8 expresses well the sense of being on the frozen continent:
When I look at your heavens, the work of your hands, the moon and the stars that you have established—what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?
In the Spiritual Exercises, St Ignatius of Loyola suggests that we consider how God works and labours for us in all things created on the face of the earth. In Antarctica, it is not hard to see God at work in the beauty of creation—in the mountain ranges, in the ice sheet, in the limitless blue sky, in the vastness of the continent, in the seals, in the penguins.
The aspect of life at McMurdo that will stay with me is the relationships. With about 1000 people at the station, and with
us all eating together in the galley, a strong sense of community grew. I found the conversations over meals and the friendships that were forged very life-giving. These conversations often turned to things of God and discussing the meaning of life was an important part of my role. I talked with all sorts of people, always trying to give them the time they needed to express themselves.
The pace of life in Antarctica is quite leisurely, so I had time to pray for an hour each morning in a prayer space in the Chapel of the Snows, which looks out over the Ross Ice Shelf towards Mount Discovery. It was very peaceful and unhurried. I had few of the deadlines or worries that normally crowd in on my prayer time in Melbourne. The silence of Antarctica was immense and very conducive to prayer.
Yet McMurdo Station is surprisingly noisy at times. It is the base for all the scientific research done by the United States Antarctic Program. There are about 100 buildings, including laboratories, offices, a small hospital, a fire station, dormitories, a galley, a power plant, fuel dumps, storage sheds, a flight control centre, and a chapel. McMurdo has everything needed to run a small town that supports the work of about 200 scientists. There is a multiplicity of vehicles—graders, front-end loaders, buses, vans, tracked vehicles, helicopters and so on—all designed for the icy conditions. So, when these machines are operating, McMurdo can be very noisy.
Fortunately, there were wonderfully quiet walks near McMurdo, and most days I would get out of the township and walk through the frozen but beautiful landscape. My favourite walk was up to Our Lady of the Snows—a memorial to Petty Officer Richard Williams. He was bringing in supplies from a ship 30 miles out from McMurdo Station on 6 January 1956 when his 30-ton tractor broke through the sea ice and plunged 350 fathoms to the bottom of McMurdo Sound. His body was never recovered. It is a poignant reminder of how dangerous Antarctica can be.
My fixed pastoral duties in a typical day included morning prayer at 8.30am in the Chapel of the Snows, and Mass at 5.45pm. The rest of the time I walked around the station and talked with people in the galley, visited their workplaces, and was available for spiritual conversation.
I said Mass on Christmas Eve and, because there is no night at all during December in Antarctica, midnight Mass was in full sunlight.
The most memorable thing I did was to visit the South Pole. On Monday 10 December, we flew for almost three hours to Amundsen-Scott Station at the South Pole. The weather at the Pole was clear and very cold: minus 36.5 degrees centigrade with the wind-chill factor. Because the South Pole is so high— 2835 metres—the first thing you notice when you get off the plane and walk towards the station is how hard it is to breathe in the rarefied atmosphere.
After lunch at Amundsen-Scott Station, I put on my extreme cold-weather clothing and walked over to the magnetic South Pole. At this point on the earth, everywhere is north. At this place I found myself moved to pray for peace on earth.
On my return to Christchurch, Fr Doyle asked if I would like to go back to McMurdo as Catholic Chaplain in a couple of year’s time.
I am very much open to it.
Read more about Fr Michael’s experience in Antarctica at: antarcticjesuit.com
Fr Michael Smith SJ is Director of the Campion Centre of Ignatian Spirituality in Kew.
Details: www.campion.asn.au
Words Fr Michael Smith SJPictures Anna Pearson and Fr Michael Smith SJ
I HAVE a ‘bucket list’ of things that I want to do before I die, and one of those was to visit to the South Pole.
I doubted I would ever tick off that item until I heard about the Antarctic Chaplaincy Program coordinated by Fr Dan Doyle of Christchurch Diocese in New Zealand. I emailed him to see if there was a possibility of my being a chaplain at McMurdo Station, the US research centre on the shore of McMurdo Sound in Antarctica. He informed me that a space was available in December 2012. I could go if I passed the medical.
Because Antarctica is so remote and medical facilities are limited, if you want to travel there you must undergo extensive medical and dental checks beforehand. I passed the tests and on 6 December 2012, flew to Antarctica from Christchurch.
I had researched Antarctica before I went, but nothing prepared me for the physical vastness and the beauty I encountered when I stepped out of the aircraft onto the ice runway. Psalm 8 expresses well the sense of being on the frozen continent:
When I look at your heavens, the work of your hands, the moon and the stars that you have established—what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?
In the Spiritual Exercises, St Ignatius of Loyola suggests that we consider how God works and labours for us in all things created on the face of the earth. In Antarctica, it is not hard to see God at work in the beauty of creation—in the mountain ranges, in the ice sheet, in the limitless blue sky, in the vastness of the continent, in the seals, in the penguins.
The aspect of life at McMurdo that will stay with me is the relationships. With about 1000 people at the station, and with
us all eating together in the galley, a strong sense of community grew. I found the conversations over meals and the friendships that were forged very life-giving. These conversations often turned to things of God and discussing the meaning of life was an important part of my role. I talked with all sorts of people, always trying to give them the time they needed to express themselves.The pace of life in Antarctica is quite leisurely, so I had time to pray for an hour each morning in a prayer space in the Chapel of the Snows, which looks out over the Ross Ice Shelf towards Mount Discovery. It was very peaceful and unhurried. I had few of the deadlines or worries that normally crowd in on my prayer time in Melbourne. The silence of Antarctica was immense and very conducive to prayer.
Yet McMurdo Station is surprisingly noisy at times. It is the base for all the scientific research done by the United States Antarctic Program. There are about 100 buildings, including laboratories, offices, a small hospital, a fire station, dormitories, a galley, a power plant, fuel dumps, storage sheds, a flight control centre, and a chapel. McMurdo has everything needed to run a small town that supports the work of about 200 scientists. There is a multiplicity of vehicles—graders, front-end loaders, buses, vans, tracked vehicles, helicopters and so on—all designed for the icy conditions. So, when these machines are operating, McMurdo can be very noisy.
Fortunately, there were wonderfully quiet walks near McMurdo, and most days I would get out of the township and walk through the frozen but beautiful landscape. My favourite walk was up to Our Lady of the Snows—a memorial to Petty Officer Richard Williams. He was bringing in supplies from a ship 30 miles out from McMurdo Station on 6 January 1956 when his 30-ton tractor broke through the sea ice and plunged 350 fathoms to the bottom of McMurdo Sound. His body was never recovered. It is a poignant reminder of how dangerous Antarctica can be.
My fixed pastoral duties in a typical day included morning prayer at 8.30am in the Chapel of the Snows, and Mass at 5.45pm. The rest of the time I walked around the station and talked with people in the galley, visited their workplaces, and was available for spiritual conversation.
I said Mass on Christmas Eve and, because there is no night at all during December in Antarctica, midnight Mass was in full sunlight.
The most memorable thing I did was to visit the South Pole. On Monday 10 December, we flew for almost three hours to Amundsen-Scott Station at the South Pole. The weather at the Pole was clear and very cold: minus 36.5 degrees centigrade with the wind-chill factor. Because the South Pole is so high— 2835 metres—the first thing you notice when you get off the plane and walk towards the station is how hard it is to breathe in the rarefied atmosphere.
After lunch at Amundsen-Scott Station, I put on my extreme cold-weather clothing and walked over to the magnetic South Pole. At this point on the earth, everywhere is north. At this place I found myself moved to pray for peace on earth.
On my return to Christchurch, Fr Doyle asked if I would like to go back to McMurdo as Catholic Chaplain in a couple of year’s time.
I am very much open to it.
Read more about Fr Michael’s experience in Antarctica at: antarcticjesuit.com
Fr Michael Smith SJ is Director of the Campion Centre of Ignatian Spirituality in Kew.
Details: www.campion.asn.au
SHARED FROM ARCHDIOCESE OF MELBOURNE
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