The annual Multicultural Mass will be held in St Stephen’s Cathedral this Sunday August 24th at 2pm.
The Mass celebrates the theme of “Solidarity and Harmony of Cultures for a Peaceful and Progressive Australia” and is being held a week ahead of National Migrant and Refugee Sunday.
Retired Bishop John Gerry will celebrate the Mass, alongside chaplains and priests who minister to ethnic communities.
Fr Franco Fillipetto, a chaplain for the Portuguese speaking community, said around 800 people were expected to attend.
“The ideology behind it is to celebrate the diversity of cultures in our country and to respect that culture as a big part in forming a person’s identity,” Fr Franco said.
“There are always different expressions of the faith that come from the
various countries and this is a great way to celebrate that,” he said.
Around 25 different nationalities are expected to participate, many being offered a role in the integral parts of the Mass.
“The communities all do different things, for example some do the reading in their own language while others provide a choir,” Fr Franco said.
“This year we have the Filipino Community performing the singing while the Samoans will handle the opening procession.
“That works well because we try to give each community something to do depending on how many roles we have,” he said.
A gathering will be held on the Cathedral Lawns at the conclusion of the Mass to which participants have been asked to bring a plate of food from their own cultural background.
For further enquiries on the Multicultural Mass please call Fr Ben Macajes on 0412 229 362 or Fr Franco Filipetto on (07) 3352 7776.
Parishes are also encouraged to celebrate Migrant and Refugee the following Sunday August 31st. Resources and ideas for parishes and schools are again being provided by the Australian Catholic Migrant and Refugee Office.
The Heads of the National Council of Churches Australia have also endorsed Refugee and Migrant Sunday “as an opportunity to educate ourselves and others as well as a chance to encourage the Australian Government to act in solidarity with refugees”.
Released by the Catholic Communications Office