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It is with great pleasure that the ACMRO shares with you the upcoming Pilgrimage of the Migrant Jubilee Cross 2025 (Jubilee Cross), which will commence on Sunday, 5 October 2025 in Canberra. The Jubilee Cross is a tangible gift from migrant communities to the broader Church, symbolising the Church as a place of refuge, welcome, integration, and solidarity. From October 2025 to October 2026, the Jubilee Cross will journey across Catholic parishes and school communities nationwide, fostering deep spiritual and communal expressions of the Jubilee Year of Hope.
This initiative aims to offer our Catholic Church in Australia an opportunity to mark a dual celebration: the 111th World Day of Migrants and Refugees and the Jubilee of Migrants in October 2025. It also seeks to continue acknowledging and celebrating the faith, gifts, contributions, and resilience that migrant communities bring to our local Church and the wider world. Finally, it will serve as a preparation for the 8th ACMRO National Conference in 2026, which will focus on the role of migrant communities in a synodal Church.
An official online pilgrimage calendar as well as liturgical resources will also be made available on the ACMRO website to assist parishes and schools in celebrating the visit of the Jubilee Cross.
For all enquiries, kindly email ACMRO at info@acmro.catholic.org.au.
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“Where do you come from?” is one of those queries being asked of me as an international priest in the Diocese of Toowoomba. It seems easy, but the answer represents a pilgrim, a mission, and a path of faith. Am I asked where I was born? Where do I live now? Where do I feel most at home? For the culturally and linguistically diverse believers, that answer is not simply shaped by the diverse realities of migration.
As I reflect on my fifth year living in Australia, the more substantial reply may not just be the location on the map, or the colour of my skin, or even my accent, but a story of pilgrims of hope. Where I come from includes the land of my childhood, the sojourns that I've taken in life, the people that I've met and encountered in the past and present as well as those emerging, and the Advocate, the indwelling spirit who continues to call me and you. And on Pentecost, we remember that it was the Holy Spirit who first gathered people from many nations and tongues, breathing into them a shared identity that was not confined by language or birthplace, but by grace. From that day, the Church was not just born; it became multilingual, multicultural, and missionary.
St Patrick’s Cathedral Toowoomba shows a similar reality. With people from many walks of life, languages, and cultures, we are reminded that the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, is active, alive, and enthusiastic in the present moment. The Strategic Plan of the parish 2023–2028 invites us all, whether locals or newly arrived in our church, to reflect on what it means to be a Believing, Belonging, and Becoming community as pilgrims of hope.
In Belonging, we affirm the inclusion of all, so each person’s experience in our community is life-giving. This means appreciating the diverse identity of our members, understanding the worldviews and stories that shape us, and honouring our shared heritage. We hope to host opportunities such as cultural and spiritual events to hear one another’s personal and family stories and see how they contribute to our parish’s unique presence in Toowoomba.
As we broaden our parish, we hope to foster a community that truly welcomes all. Whether you've been here for decades or arrived last year, whether you were born in Toowoomba or overseas, you belong here. It is about recognising that Australia, and our Church, are continually increasing, diversifying, and expanding by those who arrive with gifts, dreams, and faith of their own. The Spirit of Pentecost urges us to open dialogue, listen actively, and welcome all who call this place home. In a world where some feel left behind or unwelcome, the Church must be that rare place where everyone finds dignity, connection, and purpose.
The Multicultural Mass on a Pentecost Sunday at St. Patrick’s Cathedral was presided by Bishop Ken Howell, Bishop of Toowoomba, and it was something new for the cathedral and, I think, for the whole diocese. As people from various ethnic backgrounds and international communities came together in worship, the Mass served as a powerful expression of gratitude for the Spirit-led diversity flourishing in the Church. Toowoomba, a Refugee Welcome Zone since 2013, continues to be a place of welcome and hope. This celebration affirmed that migrants and refugees are not just guests but vital members of the Church and of Australian society.
The gifts that the thriving multicultural community brings to the Church of Toowoomba are both profound for the migrants and enriching to the locals. Their deep faith, vibrant traditions, and strong sense of community breathe new life into parish worship and fellowship, adding an intercultural blend to the growing parishioners. The Indigenous Australians started the Ceremony with a Welcome to Country, followed by an Irish Blessing, and welcomed everyone, parishioners and guests, in the Gaelic language (with translation in English in the PowerPoint). Several faithful coming from almost 32 cultures and nations participated. Through their music, languages, cultural expressions, and resilience, they help the Church reflect more fully the universality of the Body of Christ. The Mass was more than a display of colours and sounds. It was a sacred reminder that “We are companions of the journey, breaking bread and sharing life; and in the love we bear is the hope we share for we believe in the love of our God.” May we truly welcome and walk alongside one another in faith for “we are one and free,” Advance Australia Fair. The WRD 2025 webpage includes liturgy resources for primary and secondary schools, homily notes, prayers of intercession, and parish bulletin notices.
With acknowledgement and thanks to Fr Brian Redondo of the Diocese of Toowoomba for this contribution.
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In observance of World Refugee Day 2025, the St Patrick Parish Mortlake community came together for a moving and significant event on Friday, 20 June. This event gathered parishioners, students, locals, and visitors together to engage in conversations about what it is like to seek refuge.
Presenters with lived experience of forced displacement graced the event; many of them are affiliated with the Jesuit Refugee Service Australia. Their experiences served as poignant reminders of the migration phenomenon and the courage required to make a fresh start in another country.
Pope Leo XIV reminds us that Christian love knows no border or bounds in his homily during Pentecost Sunday: “Where there is love, there is no room for prejudice, for ‘security’ zones separating us from our neighbours, for the exclusionary mindset that, tragically, we now see emerging also in political nationalisms.”
With acknowledgement and thanks to the St Patrick Parish Mortlake, where this article originally appeared.
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