First Communion in Hebrew for 20 Filipino children

At a mass celebrated by Father David, Patriarchal Vicar for Hebrew speaking Catholics, 20 children of Filipino heritage celebrated their first communion in the presence of their mothers, other family members and the dedicated team of pastoral assistants from the Divine Mercy Chapel in south Tel Aviv. Unfortunately the mass could not be celebrated at the Chapel itself because the Filipino community was evicted from their premises and are looking for a new location.

Father David asked Father Apolinary, superior of Saint Peter Church in Jaffa to host the mass and the children were bussed to Jaffa together with their families. The joyful celebration was animated by Benedetto's singing and guitar and the children joined in with the repertoire they had learned during classes.

The children have been taking religious education with Father David, Benedetto and Jose Enrique since February 2010. The classes meet once every two weeks and about 25 children attend each class on average. The classes make extensive use of the religious catechism books published by the Saint James Vicariate and in addition the children have learnt to pray and to participate in the mass.

These children are born in Israel to Filipinos (mostly Filipina mothers who are foreign workers). The vast majority of the children receive their education at Bialik-Rogozin School in south Tel Aviv, a secular, Jewish, Israeli Hebrew language school. The children participate in their school activities, in scouts, and know Jewish culture and tradition far better than Catholic faith and tradition. The conferring of the sacrament will hopefully arouse in some a desire to get to know the person of Christ and His Church better.