Hundreds attend first-ever Arabic Mass at 2026 RECongress

In the 70 years of RECongress, the event has hosted several Masses and liturgies featuring an array of languages and cultures.

But for the first time in its history, RECongress hosted an Arabic Mass put on by the Arab American Catholic Community (AACC), based out of St. Joseph Church in Pomona. Started in 1989, the community comprises an estimated 6,000 families with backgrounds mostly from six countries: Palestine, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Egypt.

“I want to thank RECongress for giving us this opportunity to show our faith because sometimes, unfortunately, when we think of Arabs, what do we think about?” said Father Ala Musharbash, a Jordanian Catholic priest who’s now the chaplain for the AACC.

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(Photo Credit: Katie Trejo)