The Sacred Heart Centre holds a Sunday Mass at 10:30 AM every week. To accommodate the needs of parishioners from Papua New Guinea, Hong Kong, Macau, China, Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia, each Mass is conducted in one or more languages (English, Cantonese, Mandarin). For example, the first Sunday of each month is primarily in English, the second and third Sundays are mainly in Cantonese, and the fourth and fifth Sundays are primarily in Mandarin. This arrangement has been in place for many years. 

As our community continues to grow, we recognise the importance of hearing the Mass in one’s familiar language—especially the homily delivered by the priest—which greatly enhances engagement in the liturgy and fosters a deeper encounter with the Lord. With this in mind, we sought to enable all parishioners, regardless of their regional background or spoken language, to fully participate in every Sunday liturgy.

Thus, in April 2016, with the assistance of several parishioners, we initiated a trial program to provide real-time interpretation of the entire Mass into either Mandarin or Cantonese. After three months of trial, the Sacred Heart Simultaneous Interpreting Team (SIT) was officially established. Brothers and sisters fluent in English, Cantonese, and Mandarin volunteered their time and services for translation, while others provided technical and logistical support.

I would like to express my special thanks to Paul Chan and his team for their technical support, to Lucia Loi for her dedicated efforts in promoting this initiative, and, of course, to our interpreters—Waidy Chen, Paul Xu, and Paul Chu, along with Michael Chen, who joined later—for their commitment of time and effort. Without the selfless contributions of each and every one of you, we would not have reached where we are today. Thanks be to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, whose inspiration led to the formation of the Sacred Heart SIT Team.

In recent years, due to the impact of the pandemic and a shortage of interpreters, the SIT Team has been on a temporary hiatus. If you are proficient in two or more of these languages and are willing to join this special ministry, we warmly invite you to contact us. With enough interest, we hope to restart this valuable service.

For those interested, please contact Paul Chu (paul.chu@cccbrisbane.org.au).