There have always been curious anecdotes throughout the history of Christianity. For example, when the U.S. Catholic astronaut Mike Hopkins took the Eucharist into space during a mission in 2013. Hopkins asked permission from the Diocese of Galveston-Houston, Texas, to be able to take consecrated forms into the spacecraft, so that he could receive communion on Sundays during the six months he was on a mission to the international space station. It is undoubtedly an anecdote that will go down in history and who knows if it will become commonplace if space travel and the colonization of the moon or other planets increase.
Another of these very special Eucharistic presences is located south of the 60th parallel, where the Antarctic territory begins. For this report we have counted seven Catholic chapels, five dependent on the Argentine military archbishopric, another on the Chilean military bishopric and the last one on the Chilean diocese of Rio Gallegos. Father Luis María Berthoud, one of the Argentinean chaplains, commented in an interview that in the Antarctic pastoral, "if we are more Church on the way out... we fall off the map!".
In addition to the Catholic presence, there is also a church of the Norwegian Anglican Church, a church of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and a church of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. Russian Orthodox ChurchThere may also be other chapels on bases in other countries. For example, one of the American bases has a multidenominational chapel that is attended two months a year by a chaplain. In any case, it is difficult to know how many tabernacles there may be in Antarctica, since pastoral care is not centralized and depends on the dioceses of the different countries with a presence in Antarctica.
Tabernacles at the South Pole
How did faith reach these places? With the scientific expeditions to the South Pole, many of them sponsored by the armies of different governments. Thus it was that on February 20, 1946, the Jesuit Felipe Lérida - who in his youth endured the cold of his native Soria - celebrated the first Mass in the Antarctic territory, after raising an 8-meter cross at the Argentinean scientific base. ArcadesThe company was the first to establish itself on the Antarctic continent in 1904.
After celebrating the religious office, at midnight on February 20, 1946, Father Lerida sent this telegram to Pope Pius XII: "First Mass celebrated, Cross erected, Virgin Mary cult established, Antarctic Continent, Orkney Islands, Republic of Argentina. Father Lérida, Jesuit, Buenos Aires, requests blessing.". They are not Armstrong's words upon stepping on the moon, but they are also memorable.
The human presence on the continent has continued to grow and there are currently 43 permanent bases, from 20 different countries, which house a winter population of about 1100 people, although in the summer months their number almost quadruples.
Frozen masses
The winter of 2022 promises to be colder than usual, as the rise in fuel prices caused by the war in Ukraine suggests that we will turn on the heating less than in other years. However, this cold is nothing compared to what it is like to attend Mass in one of the chapels on the Antarctic continent. Although it may not seem like it, there are also places of worship in such remote places.
Most of the constructions in which these chapels are housed are very rudimentary, based on construction containers and other simple prefabricated models. As the climatic conditions are extreme, the facilities of the poles are usually small, especially considering that the number of faithful attending the liturgical celebrations is very small.
The chapel of Nuestra Señora de las Nieves, the southernmost chapel on the planet, is located at the Argentinean base of Belgrano II and mass is celebrated at 18º below zero, so the ceremonies should not last long. Admittedly, this is a tolerable cold because it is very dry. The rest of the places of worship have some heating, so you can be in minimal conditions.
Of all the chapels in Antarctica, the one in Las Nieves is undoubtedly the most spectacular, as it is inside a glacier and the entire interior is made of ice. It is perhaps the southernmost shrine in the world. The photograph that illustrates this report shows its beauty. Inside the temperature remains constant, but outside it can easily be -35° in summer?
Priest rotation
When there was no shortage of clergy, some chaplains spent the whole year at the bases, but for years now they have only been able to attend them during the summer campaign. Even so, Antarctic chaplains of all churches and denominations are rotated every year. Usually the priests are at each base for a few days each year during the summer campaign, when the priest spends a few days at the base. In addition to celebrating Mass, people are blessed and prayers are said for the deceased. During these days many people come to confess or chat with the priest. To reach the bases, the chaplains usually take advantage of the icebreaker's trips. Admiral Irizar The Argentine Navy, which disembarks at each of the bases to take food supplies for the whole year and collect the garbage from the previous year.
Thanks to these trips, the priests go to places that do not have clergy all year round, and even leave the Eucharist for the faithful to receive communion throughout the year, since each base has a minister of communion who is in charge of distributing it on Sundays. Some bases receive a priest during the winter, but this is not usual. This coming year we are going to try to have a priest spending the winter at the base. Esperanza Base, and will move from there to three other Argentine bases. In some of them there are numerous personnel stationed and even some families.
When the chaplains arrive at the bases, their activity multiplies. There are only a few days on the ground and there are many people to attend to. But in the army, everyone has a job and a demanding schedule, and the priests help out with whatever is needed: chopping ice, cooking, cleaning or helping others with their tasks.
Living the faith without a pastor
At the six Argentinean army bases manned throughout the year there is a tabernacle with consecrated forms for those who wish to receive communion on Sundays. Communion is distributed and the faithful are gathered for prayer by a suitably instructed Communion minister, who is also in frequent contact with the army chaplain in charge of the Antarctic pastoral. He provides them with spiritual material or celebrates some Masses so that they can follow them. online.
The practice of faith is not easy also because of the lack of time: the workday leaves very little time to stop and pray. For this reason, chaplains often encourage people of faith working at the grassroots to get used to transforming their work into prayer.
The Pope's closeness
In April 2015, Warrant Officer Gabriel Almada could not believe his ears when he picked up the phone and heard none other than Pope Francis on the other end of the line. He had received his request to send a few lines congratulating the troops stationed at the Marambio Antarctic base for Easter. In the base chapel there is a replica of the Virgin of Luján, solemnly transferred from her sanctuary in 1995. In addition, since a short time ago, it keeps a chest with a solideo of Pope Francis and a rosary blessed by him. It arrived there by the hand of Father Leonidas Torres, who transported it on the Esperanza base in December 2015. That base has quite a few military families who spend the whole year there, so sometimes First Communions are also celebrated there.
In 2003, an Antarctic mountain of over 1000 meters in altitude was dedicated to St. John Paul II, as a tribute to his 25 years of pontificate. It appears with the toponym Mons Ioannis Pauli II in the international registers. The head of the Roman Pilgrimages Work, Monsignor Andreatta, organized an expedition to Antarctica to plant a cross on the Horseshoe Valley glacier, and soon after, steps were taken to register the name of the mountain on international maps.
