8 May 1998
As the assistant priest in Ba parish I often visit Votua village, 7 miles from Ba town. It sits on the banks of the Ba River and has many ethnic Indian Sikh and Hindu cane farmers living nearby. During May, the month of Mary, the Fijian people of Votua carry the statue of the Virgin Mary from house to house. Last night I decided to join them. I arrived a little late. The procession had already left the Catholic house where it had rested the previous night. I parked the parish van and caught up with the group walking along the gravel road. An organizer announced that on the way we would take the statue to a Hindu family which had requested it. We entered the gate, walked across the grassy
compound and were shown into a large room in the middle of the house. The statue was placed on a table prepared by the family. As this was only a brief stop everyone remained standing. The group sang a hymn and the leader prayed in Fijian.
The organizer then invited me to say a few words in Hindi. I thanked the Hindu family for their sense of God and for their open welcome to us Catholics who, though different in religion, also believe in the one God. I asked God to bless the meeting of neighbors of different faiths and ethnicity with harmony and peace. I prayed that God would look kindly on the family, hear their prayers and fulfill their needs.
As we left, I reflected that popular religion can be a bridge between members of different religions.
by Fr. Frank Hoare
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