The tenth St Joseph the Worker Mass will be held at St George’s Cathedral Southwark on May 4^th this year, sponsored by the Tablet in honour of its 175^th anniversary.  Gathering for the Mass begins at 10.30am.   It will be followed by an international reception, supported by some of the fifty-plus ethnic chaplaincies in London, and jointly hosted by the Cathedral and Notre Dame High School opposite.

The organisers, who include the Justice and Peace Commissions of Brentwood, Southwark and Westminster, the Ethnic Chaplaincies, London Citizens and Notre Dame High School, are well aware that this falls only 3 days before the General Election, in which immigration will be a major  issue.  Bishops who have preached at each previous Mass have pointed up Catholic Social Teaching on matters such as child detention, Strangers into Citizens (amnesty for those without documentation), and the potential  adverse impact of immigration law on families with one non-UK spouse.   Apart from political issues, the organisers see the occasion as a great opportunity to celebrate a liturgy which makes explicit the many nationalities and backgrounds forming our churches in London and the South East.  Prayers and hymns are in various languages, yet, as at Pentecost, ‘they all understand one another’.  It is a delight to share this celebration with the Tablet in their special anniversary year.