ST Mark’s church was packed to full capacity with 400 people in national dress for a Multicultural Mass celebrated by Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge on the 65th anniversary of Inala parish last Sunday.
On top of that, the parish had finished renovating its parish office at the end of last year, which was blessed and officially opened after the Multicultural Mass.
Parish priest Divine Word Father Boni Buahendri said the Mass was a brilliant chance for people to get together to celebrate their “unity in diversity”.
It was also the first time since COVID-19 hit that the church reached full capacity, he said.
“It’s a great time after Easter when people can come together to celebrate our unity in diversity and at the same time, be positive about a bright future,” Fr Buahendri said.
Fr Buahendri said many nationalities were represented at the Mass, including a large group from the Vietnamese Catholic Community as well as Catholics from Tonga, Samoa, Vanuatu, the Philippines, a number of other Asian and African nationalities and a handful of First Nations Australians.
He said it was a great celebration of the many cultures of the parish.
“That’s why we call St Mark’s the house of the migrants and refugees,” he said.
Fr Buahendri has been at the parish for a year and a half, which marked last Sunday as his first Multicultural Mass at St Mark’s as the pandemic had halted last year’s celebrations.
He said when he arrived at the parish, he had asked about how the parish celebrated St Mark’s feast day, but no one really knew about it.
This is because liturgically the feast day of St Mark falls on April 25, which is always replaced by Anzac Day Masses in Australia.
He approached the parish council and said he wanted to celebrate St Mark’s, even if it could not be on April 25.
April 18 was selected and it became a chance to celebrate the parish’s 65th anniversary as well as the diversity present in the parish, he said.
Fr Buahendri said a lot of work went into making everything run smoothly.
“Thank you to all the volunteers who work behind the scenes to make this celebration possible and a memorable and a special one,” he said.
“I’d just like to sincerely say thank you to all the parishioners, including those who could not come to the Mass but contributed to this celebration and I’m looking forward to celebrating again with them next year in April.”
