For revelers at this year’s West Indian Day Parade, the festivities were an opportunity to embrace the culture of the Caribbean islands they descended from.
But for those who are Catholics in the Diocese of Brooklyn, the parade was also an opportunity to celebrate their faith and religion along the Eastern Parkway parade in Crown Heights.
Bishop Robert Brennan celebrated Mass before he and dozens of parishioners from St. Matthew’s Parish joined thousands of others who were in attendance for the celebration, which is in its second year back, since the COVID-19 pandemic had halted the festivities in 2020 and 2021.
“I appreciated the opportunity to be among the people at St. Matthew Catholic Church to celebrate Mass prior to the West Indian Day Parade this morning on Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn,” Bishop Brennan said on X, formerly known as Twitter. “As I said at Mass, let’s go forth as God sends us forward, to be a blessing to the world.”
Members of the diocese wore red T-shirts and sang worship music throughout the celebration. They waved the flags of their respective native Caribbean islands as they made their way across the parkway toward Grand Army Plaza in Prospect Park.