BRISBANE archdiocese’s annual Multicultural Mass last Sunday packed St Stephen’s Cathedral with more than 1000 worshippers.
The Mass is organised as part of Migrant and Refugee Week and the theme this year was “Young Migrants – A Gift to Australia”.
Principal celebrant Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Oudeman of Brisbane said young migrants played an important role in evangelisation.
“Coming from different cultures, but all united by belonging to the one Church of Christ, they can show that the Gospel is alive and suited to every situation; it is an old and ever new message,” Bishop Oudeman said in his homily.
“It is a word of hope and salvation for the people of all races and cultures, of all ages and eras.”
Bishop Oudeman, himself a migrant 50 years ago, said this Mass was a wonderful sign of unity and diversity of the Church.
“There is a good chance that in many of the parishes in our archdiocese the person sitting next to us during Mass would be someone who is either born overseas or who has one parent foreign born or both parents born overseas,” he said.
A special addition to this year’s Multicultural Mass was the gathering of World Youth Day pilgrims.
About 80 pilgrims who had attended celebrations in Sydney in July took part in the Mass and sang the WYD song.
In another first, this year’s celebration began with an indigenous smoking ceremony.
Twenty-one nationalities, along with the WYD pilgrims, were actively involved in the Mass with many more cultures reflected among the worshippers.
The Mass, organised by the archdiocese’s Ethnic Ministers Group and the Centre for Multicultural Pastoral Care, was followed by afternoon tea and entertainment.
