Around 2,000 people are expected to join newly appointed San Diego Bishop Michael Pham Saturday to celebrate the San Diego Diocese’s eighth annual Pentecost Mass for All Peoples.
Last month, Pope Leo XVI made his first U.S. appointment by naming Bishop Pham as the head of the San Diego diocese, marking the first time a Vietnamese-American has led a U.S. diocese.
Saturday’s free event, at Cathedral Catholic High School near Pacific Highlands Ranch, will bring together more than two dozen cultural Catholic communities from the Americas and around the world.
A 10:45 a.m. parade of more than 20 cultures in traditional attire will precede the 11 a.m. mass in the gym.
A multicultural festival with food and live entertainment will follow from 12:30 to 2 p.m.
Cultures to be represented include Africans, Blacks, Chinese, Filipinos, Germans, Indians, Indonesians, Irish, Italian, Korean, Laotian, Latinos, Mexican, Native American, Samoan, Tongan, Ukrainian and Vietnamese.
Pentecost, considered the beginning of the Christian church, holds special significance in the Catholic tradition as it commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles, who then set off to make disciples across the world.
