African Thanksgiving Returns to West Side
Buffalo, NY
By Patrick J. Buechi, Originally Published by the Western New York Catholic
Welcome home and welcome back. Holy Cross Parish hosted an African Thanksgiving Mass and bazaar in celebration of the diverse culture of the many nations of Africa and its contributions to the Diocese of Buffalo. A Buffalo tradition, this was the first bazaar held since the Covid-19 outbreak of 2020.
“Welcome home,” said Father Felix Nyambe, OMI, to Bishop Michael W. Fisher when greeting him at the West Side parish on Nov. 5. Father Nyambe, pastor, took to heart a lesson from Pope Francis delivered during the recent World Youth Day events in Lisbon. “There is room for everyone in the Church and the Church is mother to everyone.”
“I can testify here at Holy Cross that we have embraced that call of the pope to say that there is room for everybody in the Church regardless of where we come from,” Father Nyambe said.
The bishop warmly accepted the invitation.
“It’s always good to come home to Holy Cross,” he said. “It’s a great joy to come to celebrate the richness of our Catholic heritage and your African culture – our African culture, that adds so much to our fabric to the mosaic of who we are as Church.”
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