On October 1, 2015, Most Rev. Robert E. Guglielmone, Bishop of Charleston, appointed Deacon Paul Rosenblum as the Port Chaplain for the diocese.
In 2020, on the occasion of the Centennial, to reflect the universality of its mission, Stella Maris became the official name with which the Apostolate of the Catholic Church for the people of the sea is known.
In Charleston, the Apostleship of the Sea/Stella Maris works in conjunction with the Charleston Port and Seafarers’ Society (ChaPSS), an ecumenical Christian organization dedicated to serving the seafaring community.
AOS has its roots in Glasgow, Scotland, where in 1899 Father Joseph Egger, SJ founded the Apostleship of Prayer Society to serve the crews of the ships calling at that port. In 1920, Catholic port ministry was conceived and developed in Glasgow, Scotland, by Rev. Donald Macintosh, Arthur Gannon, and Peter Anson, who were concerned about the lack of witness the Church was showing aboard ship. Two years later they approached Pope Pius XI, who bestowed his blessings on the ministry and encouraged the Apostleship of the Sea to extend its mission to the oceans and shores of all the hemispheres.
In 1997 Pope St. John Paul II issued the Motu Proprio “Stella Maris” that called on all countries with seaports to establish their own AOS under the direction of the nation’s Conference of Bishops. From the start it was recognized that care of the seafaring community was the responsibility of the local church, and the Motu Proprio calls on each diocese with seaports in its territory to appoint a port chaplain to coordinate the ministry.