Many Cultures, One Church
In July 2011 the different immigrant communities in our diocese organised a day celebrating both our diversity and our unity.
“Many Cultures One Church” was a special diocesan event which saw English, African, Indian and Filipino groups gather together for an International Mass and celebration at St Joseph’s in Gateshead.
The Filipino choir sang the entrance hymn ‘Blow the trumpet in Zion’ which was a solemn beginning to the Mass. The chief celebrant of the Mass was Vicar General Monsignor Gerard Lavender and the Mass was also concelebrated by Fr Chris Jackson, Fr Jeff Dodds, Fr Jude Ogbuanu, Fr Kefa Nyakundi, Fr Saji Thottathil, Fr Robert Sahayaraj, Fr Arockia Mariadass and Deacon Osaro Omobude.
When the procession reached the altar the Tamil community performed a traditional welcome and applied ‘tilaka’ (a mark on the forehead made with a paste of red sandalwood powder) and sprinkled holy water on the priests followed by ‘Aarti’ (a plate circulated around the priests) which is done in reverence to them.
The first reading was given by Riya Raju and Deacon Osaro Omobude did the Gospel reading. In his Homily Fr Jeff spoke about “the Pentecost Day readings that were specially selected to encourage and challenge us.” He also spoke about his experiences of taking part in the World Youth Festival and his travel to India during the last couple of years.
The Kyrie was in an African language. During the offertory procession a Filipino hymn was sung and the Holy Holy was sung by the African group, the communion hymn was in Malayalam and the Filipino group sang the final hymn. The bidding prayers were read by representatives from various communities
After the intercontinental lunch the cultural programme saw the Filipino group perform a synchronised group dance, followed by the African group performing to the tune of a dance number. From the Indian group two Newcastle sisters performed a spectacular dance to the tune of a Malayalam song which received thunderous applause. Two Sunderland girls performed a dance to the tune of Bollywood hit number Sheila Ki Jawani, and a Bharatnatyam classical dance was performed by a member of the Tamil group. A solo dance and two solo songs from Malayalee and Filipino singers also formed part of the cultural programme which was anchored by Newcastle GP Dr Gopal Munisamy.
Later, community speakers were invited to speak and Celine Sheinman represented Africans, Soy Joseph represented Indians, Richard Genove represented the Filipino community and Fr Chris responded to them.
On behalf of the organising committee, a wall clock representing twelve nations comprising United Kingdom, India, Philippines, Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Poland, Togo, Congo, Zimbabwe, and Ghana with a background picture of Bishop Seamus and the Papal Flag in the centre was presented to Fr Chris, to be handed over to the Bishop.