Cardinal leads rare mass in East Indian dialect

Mumbai (Matters India): Sunday was a red-letter day for the city’s native , Tiy.

The sons of the soil gathered in large numbers at a church in Kurla where the archbishop of Bombay Oswald Cardinal Gracias celebrated mass with a sprinkling of the native East Indian dialect.

This was a rare event that some say occurred after a gap of decades. Around 2,000 East Indians from 60 gaothans and koliwadas across Mumbai, Thane and Raigad attended the service at Holy Name Church at 11 a.m.

Fr Nigel Barrett, spokesman of the archdiocese, said, “While the main mass was celebrated in Marathi, certain parts which involve prayers to be said by the people were said in the East Indian dialect. Since the Cardinal does not speak this dialect, the homily was delivered by another priest.” The petitions of the people, liturgically referred to as the ‘Prayers of the Faithful’, were also in the local East Indian dialect, The Times of India reported.

Godfrey Pimenta of the Bombay East Indian Association, which organized the event, said, “This is a historic movement for the community since mass in the East Indian dialect is being celebrated after decades. The aim is to preserve the language which is hardly spoken by the young generation.”

Traditional items were sold at the venue. Pimenta said, “I have designed 500 umbrellas from the East Indian sari or ‘lugda’. One can actually use them during monsoon. These were sold at cost price. We also treated the guests to traditional breakfast and lunch. Brass bands gave the event a festive air.”

Fr Nigel recalled the contribution of the East Indians to the cause of nation building. Both before and since Independence several natives gave up their vast land holdings to the government to build infrastructure. Fr Nigel said this Eucharistic celebration gave an opportunity to the Cardinal to interact with members of the community and express his gratitude for the contribution of the East Indian community to the Church and the country.