Mauritian Catholics gather in Moorebank to honour Père Laval

Mauritian Catholics gathered at St Joseph’s Catholic parish in Moorebank on 13 September to celebrate the annual Mass for Blessed Jacques-Désiré Laval. The community held a procession and a food fair featuring Mauritian specialties, with all funds raised from the fair being sent to the Diocese of Port-Louis in Mauritius.

Fr Octavian Tumaini Masao CSSp, the parish priest of St Dominic’s in Broadmeadows, and Fr Didier Indibi OMI, an assistant priest at Mary Immaculate Parish in Eagle Vale, celebrated the Mass in French. The liturgy included prayers and songs in both French and Mauritian Creole.

Organizer Dario Ratinon noted that the event drew Mauritians from across Sydney to participate in the hymns, prayers, and testimonies. The community plans to hold the Mass again in 2027. Père Laval was a French missionary priest from the Spiritans congregation who arrived in Mauritius in 1841.