Like many of the more than 800 people who attended the ninth annual Africa Day Mass celebrated by Washington Cardinal Wilton Gregory at Mother Seton Church in Germantown on Aug. 20, Tchata Koubonou wore traditional African dress, in his case, it was a blue agbara outfit for men from Togo, his native country in West Africa.

Many of the outfits featured vibrant colors and patterns, reflecting the home countries of the African Catholics who had come to pray and celebrate their faith and their heritages.

“By looking at everybody’s outfit, I can tell where they come from,” said Koubonou, the vice chair of the executive committee for the parish’s Africa Union 55 group that sponsored the Mass and the reception afterward that featured music, food, fashion and cultural displays from the African continent.

He added, “When I look at everybody here, I just see brothers and sisters. I don’t see different countries.”

Koubonou said that while Africa has 55 different countries, the African Catholics there had come together in the spirit of the gathering’s theme from Ephesians 4:5 – “One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism.”

“This event brings us together, to get to know one another better and celebrate the goodness of the Lord,” said Koubonou, who works as a certified public accountant and has three sons. He has been a Mother Seton parishioner for about 10 years.

Bridget Onyeoke, who came to the United States 24 years ago from Nigeria and has been a parishioner at Mother Seton since then, wore a red head wrap, blouse and dress from that African nation’s Delta State.

Onyeoke, who works as a nurse and has three children, praised her parish and the Africa Day celebration. She serves as the treasurer of the parish’s Africa Union 55 group.

“Every day we celebrate being in Christ together here as a community. This is a special day we set aside to celebrate in a big way our oneness together in Christ,” she said. 

Joining Mother Seton’s African parishioners in singing in a choir for the Africa Day Mass was Hilda Akpala. The next day, she was releasing a new album called “Give Thanks,” available on Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, Instagram and other platforms.

Akpala, who is originally from Nigeria, has two daughters and works as a special education teacher for Montgomery County public schools. She said the Africa Day celebration was very meaningful, because while the African Catholics in the parish live far from their home countries, it reminds them of their traditions. 

Seven years ago, she began attending the Germantown parish. “Mother Seton Parish is home,” she said. “I love the diversity here. It (the parish) is welcoming and inclusive.”

As hundreds of people crowded into the parish hall after Mass to dine on African food from many countries and to hear music from that continent, Winifred Turyahikayo and other volunteers prepared to serve traditional Ugandan cuisine, including goat stew, groundnut sauce, chapatti soup, pork chops, and mandazi, a fried breaded snack similar to doughnuts.

“We bring our food. We sing in our languages. It feels like home,” said Turyahikayo, who works as a lactation consultant at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington.

Nearby on the food line, Francois Thimote Padonou joined volunteers in preparing to serve cuisine from the West African country of Benin, including dried yams to be eaten with a stew made with tomatoes and onions, a bean and rice dish, soup made from jute leaves, fried croaker fish and a dish made from the yuca plant.

Padonou, who works for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and has been a Mother Seton parishioner for 17 years, said he was very moved by how fitting the responsorial psalm was at the Mass, “O God Let All the Nations Praise You,” from Psalm 67.

“What a coincidence” that prayer was part of the Mass for the Africa Day gathering, he said. “We can’t get better words from God, than the meaning of that psalm.”

He added, “We are celebrating Africa. Though (the continent has) 55 countries, we see ourselves to be one people under God.”

Among the key organizers of the Africa Day celebration was Shirley Uyakonwu, the chair of the executive committee of the parish’s Africa Union 55 group. The native of Nigeria who has been a Mother Seton parishioner for about 10 years works as an administrative specialist for the Montgomery County government and has two sons. She was dressed in an orange head wrap and laced dress worn by women in the Igbo tribe of Nigeria.

Reflecting on Africa Day, Uyakonwu said, “It’s an opportunity to relive, remember all the things we used to do back home… We show our thanks to God for everything.”

She said other parishes, including in other states, have inquired about Mother Seton’s Africa Day celebration, to see about having their own similar gathering for African Catholics.

In addition to the traditional African cuisine and music following that day’s Mass, another highlight at the reception was Father Lee Fangmeyer, Mother Seton’s pastor, wearing African ceremonial dress presented to him by parishioners. In past Africa Day celebrations there, the priest wore outfits from Nigeria, Cameroon and Tanzania. For this year’s gathering, Father Fangmeyer wore a blue and white striped outfit from Togo, with sandals and a beaded necklace.

In an interview, Father Fangmeyer said that since he arrived as pastor at Mother Seton almost 10 years ago, he has been inspired by the joyful faith of the African Catholics there. He later noted that for his African parishioners, “There is no division between faith and life. God and Jesus are not just in church,” but mean everything to them, he said. “The way they sing, pray, dress, dance and cook, all of it is an expression of faith.”

The pastor said those parishioners from many different countries are proud of being African and proud of being Catholic, “We can learn so much from them,” he said.