About Antarctica:
Antarctica is a continent…and we suppose it is one you are unlikely to visit, since it would seem to offer little for the tourist. It is the southernmost continent, about the size of Australia, covering about 870 square miles (14 million square kilometers), mostly south of the Antarctic Circle. It’s the coldest, driest, and windiest continent, with temperatures dropping as low as -128.6 F (-89.2°C) and 98% of its land covered by ice averaging 1.18 miles (1.9 km) thick. We won’t even mention the wind factors!
Despite harsh conditions, it hosts unique wildlife like penguins, seals and krill, who survive in this extreme environment. No permanent human population exists, but around 1,000–5,000 researchers live in temporary stations, with numbers peaking in summer (no surprise there!). The Antarctic Treaty of 1959 governs the continent, designating it for peaceful scientific research, with 54 countries as signatories. It bans military activity and resource extraction, and although territorial claims by seven nations (Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, New Zealand, Norway, UK) persist, they are held in abeyance.
The Antarctic Treaty, which governs the continent, currently prohibits mining activities. However, the treaty is up for review in 2048, and potential changes regarding resource exploitation are being discussed
With what could be a treasure-trove of sought-after rare earth minerals under the ice, we have to wonder if the agreement will continue to be honored.
Climate change is impacting Antarctica, with warming in the Antarctic Peninsula causing ice shelf collapses, such as Larsen B in 2002, and there are concerns about global sea level rise from melting ice sheets.
Multiple governments (more than 40 at last count) have set up permanent research stations in Antarctica and these bases are widely distributed. Unlike the drifting ice stations set up in the Arctic, the current research stations of the Antarctic are constructed either on rocks or on is (for practical purposes) permanent.
These stations facilitate studies in various fields, including atmospheric sciences, astronomy, geology, glaciology, and marine biology, often taking advantage of Antarctica’s extreme conditions and pristine environment.
There are several Catholic places of interest in Antarctica:
This might come as a surprise, but obviously many of the researchers assigned here are Catholic, and would like the opportunity to attend Mass. You might be even more surprised that there are several places to attend Mass in Antarctica…..at least we were!
There are eight churches in Antarctica, four of which are Catholic.
Base Belgrano II: Chapel of Our Lady of the Snows:
Located at Argentina’s Belgrano II Base on Coats Land, is the southernmost Catholic chapel in the world, carved entirely out of ice in a cave near the base (77°52′S 34°38′W), about 800 miles from the South Pole. Built in 1979 after the original Belgrano I base (established 1955) was abandoned due to unstable ice, it serves the spiritual needs of the base’s roughly 1,000 winter residents and up to 4,000 summer researchers.
The chapel, part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bahía Blanca, Argentina, is used for regular Masses and notably hosted Antarctica’s first church wedding in 2007 between a Chilean and a Russian researcher. Its ice walls make it a unique architectural feat.
Base Esperanza: San Francisco de Asis Chapel, built in 1976, this is the first Catholic chapel on the continent, which hosted the baptism of the first person born in Antarctica, that of Emilio Palma, born here on January 7, 1978. The Chapel also hosted the first religious wedding in Antarctica. The Esperanza base is inhabited all year round by civilians and is considered by the Argentines, as the southernmost city of the country, although it is only a small village. Besides the church, the base also has a school, a museum, a bar, a casino and a hospital with permanent maternity service.
Base Marambio: Chapel of Santísima Virgen de Luján, a steel structure with a bell tower on Seymour-Marambio Island, serving Argentine personnel.
Here is an interesting video from the researches living at Base Marambio.
Base Villa Las Estrellas: Church of Santa Maria Reina de la Paz (Our Lady Queen of Peace): Located in a re-purposed shipping container on King George’s Island (part of the Shetland Islands) I guess we could call this “the big City”, because Villa Las Estrellas has 14 homes; one banker, a post office. a small school with a total of two teachers, a gym, a modest souvenir shop and The Church of Santa Maria Reina de la Paz, accommodating up to 36 worshippers, led by a resident deacon.
Traveling to Antarctica:
As mentioned previously, we don’t picture many people traveling to Antarctica on their own (where would you stay?). There is one airport on King George Island, Teniente Rodolfo Marsh Martin Airport (TNM), which is in the South Shetland Islands archipelago, just north of mainland Antarctica.
There are also cruise lines that offer cruises to Antarctica, notably National Geographic Expeditions. Since these are not Catholic cruises, they will likely not include any sites mentioned above. The cruise season normally starts at the end of October through March, which are spring and summer months here in the southern hemisphere. June, July and August are winter months.
For a first-hand account of some Antarctica cruises, check out this video here.
There are no commercial airports in mainland Antarctica, there are several airstrips and ice runways used for research and logistical purposes.
These are typically accessed by specialized aircraft like ski-equipped planes.