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In this edition:
| The Church Celebrates Pope Leo XIV, a Multicultural and Uniting Pope with a Missionary Heart
| Online Resources Available for World Refugee Day (WRD) 2025
| African Mass Celebrates Unity through Faith
| Ministry In Focus: KWETU 4 Communities African Therapeutic Model
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There is much to describe Pope Leo XIV. However, three words seem to top initial reports and anecdotes of people who have ministered and met with him: multicultural, uniting, and missionary. On 8 May the Universal Church rejoiced at the election of Pope Leo XIV. Born in Chicago on 14 September 1955, the Pope (formerly Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost) was the first American and Augustinian pope.
The Pope began his pontificate with the motto In illo uno unum (“In the one Christ we are one”). This profoundly ecclesial vision encourages the entire People of God to travel together in synodality and points to unity amid diversity. It is anticipated that his papacy will continue Pope Francis’ inclusive and reforming spirit, particularly in the areas of social justice, care for the marginalised, and intercultural dialogue.
Also, it is notable that the Pope is also a citizen of Peru, where he served with deep pastoral zeal for much of his missionary ministry before taking on the role of Apostolic Administrator for the Diocese of Chiclayo in 2015. He made serving the poor and migrants in Peru a pillar of his ministry. According to fellow elector Cardinal Joseph Tobin, “He’s not one to back down if the cause is just.”
The Pope urged for more solidarity with displaced people and highlighted the dignity of migrants in his address to the diplomatic corps at the Vatican on 16 May. Having descended from immigrants and lived abroad, he talked about his experience and the importance of showing empathy and understanding to the marginalised including those who have been forced to leave their homes.
“My own story is that of a citizen, the descendant of immigrants, who in turn chose to emigrate. All of us, in the course of our lives, can find ourselves healthy or sick, employed or unemployed, living in our native land or in a foreign country, yet our dignity always remains unchanged: it is the dignity of a creature willed and loved by God,” he said.
With acknowledgement and thanks to the Diocese of Parramatta’s Catholic Outlook, where some parts of this article originally appeared.
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The Australian Catholic Migrant and Refugee Office (ACMRO) has published online resources to support the celebration of World Refugee Day 2025 (WRD). The WRD is being celebrated internationally each year on 20 June to honour people who have been forced to flee.
Fr Khalid Marogi, the ACMRO Director, hopes that the online resources will support parishes, schools, and other Catholic communities in marking WRD 2025.
Fr Khalid adds that we are invited to unite with the universal Church in prayer and action, to welcome, promote, accompany, and integrate those who knock on our doors, and to advocate for states to ensure humane conditions for refugees and facilitate their integration.
The WRD 2025 webpage includes liturgy resources for primary and secondary schools, homily notes, prayers of intercession, and parish bulletin notices.
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In celebration of Africa Day, a Mass was offered at St Patrick’s Cathedral on 18 May, which brought together Sydney’s many African Catholic communities (from the Dioceses of Parramatta, Broken Bay, and the Archdiocese of Sydney). In the prayer of the faithful, the languages of South Sudan, Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, and Sierra Leone invoked the one God, giving the Eucharistic prayer a tangible sense of the Church’s unity—one body, one spirit in Christ. The Mass was also attended by a visiting choir from South Africa.
A group of African priests in the Diocese of Parramatta decided to gather African Catholics to celebrate Mass in the African tradition, and the Mass was first celebrated in the same church in 2016 to mark Africa Day. On this day, the Organisation of African Unity—later known as the African Union—was established. It honours the struggle for African emancipation and freedom, as well as the collaboration and empowerment of all people on the African continent.
One of the organisers, Franklin Lamin, said that the celebration was also a means for young people to connect with one another, strengthen their African heritage, and express their gratitude to God through singing and dancing. “Singing and dancing during our liturgical worship is particular to the African Mass… During our worship we are more spirit-filled when we connect with God through the sacred music,” he said.
With acknowledgement and thanks to the Diocese of Parramatta’s Catholic Outlook, where this article originally appeared.
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The Sydney-based KWETU 4 Communities (Kwetu) is a ministry approach used by Cross-Cultural Partnerships Engagement (CCPE) Worldwide that aims to promote cultural understanding and trauma healing (i.e., responding to depression, stress, anxiety, and loneliness) by promoting hope, unity, and love using the healing effects of music, drumming, and creative art. Founded by Uganda-born Morris Mukasa and Teddy Nakalembe, Kwetu’s famed “Kwetu Project” has supported vulnerable groups such as refugees, asylum seekers, detainees, and marginalised individuals by using music, creative arts, and cultural dialogue as therapeutic tools.
Kwetu’s founders themselves were received and supported by the Church’s various ministries on migrants and refugees, and they see this organisation as a way to give back to the Church by encouraging the expression of talents, skills, and incentives that can restore the lost hope in diverse communities, hence giving their share in transforming the Church communities towards a positive life change.
The organisation continues to encourage people of God, regardless of circumstances, to come as they are and write their names on people's hearts with God-given gifts of knowledge, skills, and wisdom towards preaching the gospel.
With acknowledgement and thanks to Mr Morris Mukasa and CCPE-KWETU 4 Communities for this contribution.
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