Calgary's Africans show spirit they have to offer

A gathering of 1,500 who filled the pews at Calgary's St. Michael’s Catholic Community parish on Aug. 25 roared with the spirit of Africa.

Following the first ever African Mass of Thanksgiving to be staged in the Diocese of Calgary, attendees came together for an outdoor reception featuring an array of gastronomy and dances revered by members of the African diaspora.

A year of logistical planning was required to create a dynamic celebration uniting the Nigerian Igbo, South Sudanese, Eritrean Ge'ez and Cameroonian communities. The day finally arrived and Bishop William McGrattan was on hand to officiate the proceedings with assistance from priests of African heritage.

Fr. Gabriel Arihi of Nigeria hailed the festivities as “not only a testament to the growing presence of the African community within our parishes but also an opportunity to showcase the beauty of cultural diversity within our shared faith and the renewal process going on in the Calgary Catholic diocese." He also thanked McGrattan for “his magnanimity” as the bishop requested this Mass occur.

Dr. Ernestine Tangang Yuntenwi, a Cameroonian academic who helped coordinate the Mass and reception, said the choirs were encouraged to choose songs cherished by their culture and to infuse the performances with their local vernacular. She added that Cameroon is home to over 250 languages and members of that community showcased this rich diversity.

“We are also reading in French,” said Yuntenwi in an interview several days before the Mass. “Cameroon is bilingual like Canada, but just the opposite. You have more English and less French here. In Cameroon, it's the opposite. We have 80 per cent French, 20 per cent English. Then we have what we call the Pidgin English. It's kind of broken English. So, we'll be doing some songs and readings in broken English as well.”

Cornchaff, Puff-Puff, fried, Jollof and coconut rice, along with many chicken recipes were among the rich African cuisine offered during the post-Mass potluck celebration, which was open to all Calgary Catholics. There was also a showcase of traditional Cameroonian, Eritrean, Nigerian and Sudanese dances in vivid attire.

Dr. Joseph Osuji, the chairman of the organizing committee, heralded the African Mass of Thanksgiving as an opportunity for “African communities who have been a part of the Catholic faith in Calgary to showcase what they can offer — because we do have a lot to offer.”

Osuji, recently named the new director of the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Mount Royal University, said the celebration was cherished as it brought people “together with our flamboyant culture to celebrate and thank God for all the wonderful things and blessings He has endowed on us.”

This day of merriment also functioned as a fundraiser for vocations building in the diocese.

Considering it took nearly a year to plan, an annual African Mass of Thanksgiving on such a grand scale does not appear to be in the cards, according to Arihi, Osuji and Yuntenwi. However, they all said it is important to build off this celebration by continuing to animate and celebrate the African Catholic presence within Alberta’s most populous city.

“(This Mass) enhances community building,” said Yuntenwi. “We know for any city to thrive and for people to grow, dependency as a community is important. So, this for us marks a beginning of wonderful things identified as African, but not limited to Africans.”

Osuji said there is “an appetite” to assemble the various African Catholic communities again, but “it will not be too frequent as the logistics are a lot to pull off.”

Yuntenwi envisioned an African Mass of Thanksgiving being hosted every “two or three years.”

Indeed, the African Catholic presence in Calgary is rising, and this increased footprint is manifest across Canada. The Archdiocese of Edmonton and the Diocese of Peterborough also hosted African community liturgical services on Aug. 25.

In June 2023, The Catholic Register reported on the vibrancy of African Catholic culture in Toronto.

A Spiritan missionary from Nigeria, Fr. Obinna Ifeanyi, told The Register at the time that African Catholics come to Canada with the gifts of hope and energy.

“We bring our own gifts over here, and we learn from the environment where we find ourselves,” Ifeanyi said. “They come. They’re very energetic. They are very joyful. They’re very enthusiastic and they are looking forward to a hopeful Church.”