Merced, CA, USA. “My proposal consists of online mass in Euskera and English every Sunday at 9am local time,” Antton Egiguren tells EuskalKultura.eus from Merced, a Franciscan priest who currently serves as the Basque chaplain in the US. Aita Antton originally came to the US in 2014, to Boise, Idaho and some months ago, moved to Merced with the current challenge of providing services in its languages to the Basque community in the country. Facing confinement, the priest from Gipuzkoa began broadcasting Sunday mass last Sunday.
He has done so very successfully. Online mass broadcast in Basque and English last Sunday from the St. Patrick’s Parish and Our Lady of Mercy Parish in Merced registered a large audience among Basques in California and the US, as it was announced by Basque clubs from Chino to New York. Here’s last Sunday’s mass.
Aita Antton said he intends to continue the online initiative through the end of confinement, attending to the requests of Basque-Americans in general, but especially for those who are home alone, and of a certain age. The town of Merced is situated in an agricultural area at the interior of California, with a large Mexican population, at his current parish where he is the only priest who is fluent in Spanish, so he also attends the pastoral needs in this language. It is worth mentioning that Aita Antton is fluent in a dozen languages, besides Basque, English, Spanish and French he also speaks Korean, Italian, Thai, Portuguese, Dutch…,
His next mass will be next Sunday at 9am (PST) and 6pm Euskal Herria time through the parish’s Facebook page. “The online option is very valid,” he indicates allowing Basques to join in all over the country, as well as in other parts of the Diaspora and even Euskal Herria. “In the US, we have received messages from Boise, Gooding, people all over Idaho, from Montana, Colorado, Nevada, California, san Fransico, Chino…I am not an internet professional and I’d like to have more means, but well, ‘Tenemos que ara bon estos bueyes,” (we’ll have to plow with these oxen) he concluded.
-09:00am with Fr. Antton in Basque/English
-10:30am with Fr. Antton in Spanish
-12:00pm with Fr. John in English
-This initiative is supported by Artzain Ona, the Catholic Association of the US Basque Diaspora
-Texts, songs and prayers for this Sunday’s mass
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