Bishop Alan will concelebrate with principal celebrant Cardinal Vincent Nichols at the annual Migrants Mass in Westminster Cathedral on Monday 2 May. The dioceses of Brentwood, Southwark and Westminster together cover the London area.
Held on the Feast of St Joseph the Worker, the annual Migrants Mass will take place at 10.30am. It will be preceded by a Banner Procession at 10.00am and Witness Testimonies at 10.15.
The Mass is a visible sign of the Catholic Church’s pastoral care for migrants and their families and it has been celebrated on the first Monday in May (Bank Holiday Monday) since 2006.
It provides the opportunity to celebrate the rich diversity in our community and the acknowledgement, in the words of Bishop Patrick Lynch, that “the Church has benefited greatly from the faith and witness of migrant communities from all parts of the world – from Africa and Asia, from Eastern and Western Europe, from the islands of the Caribbean and more recently from South America. Our parishes have been enriched by the strong sense of community and commitment to family life within many of our migrant communities, by their love for the Scriptures, by their devotion to Our Lady and especially by their joyful participation in the celebration of the Eucharist”.