The Archdiocese of Los Angeles today held an annual celebration that revealed the “multiculturality” of its membership, made up of “more than 40 ethnic communities” and that makes it the largest and most diverse.
The day “A Communion of Communities” celebrated the great variety of the “largest and most diverse diocese of the nation”, with a mass and the presentation of a band formed by members of the Oaxacan community residing in Southern California.
“We celebrate this community of people from all places who speak in different languages and who share our faith in Our Lord,” Bishop Alejandro Salazar, vicar of the Office of Ethnic Ministry, said in his message to those present.
In the office, seven chaplains and spiritual leaders from different Catholic ethnic groups of the archdiocese were recognized, and Archbishop José Gómez thanked them for “their commitment to work with the diverse communities” they lead.
The celebration, held for the third consecutive year, assumes that “the Catholic Church recognizes cultural diversity as a constitutive and important part of our society,” according to the archdiocese.
The introductory rite of today’s mass was attended by the Korean Traditional Dance group Yu Su Kyung Kah-Yah, who performed an original dance in Korea’s royal palaces with more than 5,000 years of tradition.
During the Eucharistic celebration readings, songs and prayers were heard in different languages, illustrating the great diversity of the region.
Among the offerings of the Mass was requested in a special way by people recently affected by Hurricanes Harvey in Texas and Irma, Florida, as well as by the victims of the recent earthquake in Mexico.
The celebration also highlighted the centenary of the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima to the pastoral children Lucía dos Santos and her cousins Jacinta and Francisco Marto in that region of Portugal.
Thus, two relics of the Marto children, canonized in May by Pope Francis, were available for the worship of those attending the ceremony.
