To mark this “very special” occasion, Father Grace thought he would invite someone of prominence in the church, and “who better than Cardinal Mafi from Tonga”.

“Knowing all our good Tongans here in our parish, I asked him if he’d come and he said yes...I was thrilled when he was able to fit this visit in his busy schedule” he said.

“There are only 120 cardinals in the world, and it’s a great honour to have him… a cardinal come to Griffith, its a very historic moment.”

The Cardinal was “blessed” to be invited by Father Andrew Grace to be a part of the event.

“It was a great experience, I’m very proud of the gathering, very moving with the blessed sacrament, meeting people, especially some familiar faces of the Tongans” he said.

The celebration started off with the mass service, followed by a procession with four men carrying a canopy over the blessed sacrament, and another four men carrying the statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Fr Grace said “it was a great combined effort, followed by benediction, and then cardinal completed the mass by blessing the congregation to finish the literary, then our lord was taken back to the chapel for more adoration”.

The service was followed by a lunch, where over 300 community members came and celebrated, with a professional comedian Martin Ralph entertaining the crowd.

Cardinal Mafi said he was “blessed” to see the children and adults come together “at the table of the lord.”

“Seeing parishioners with a sense of hope, seeing everybody smiling, their generosity was very moving” he said.

Secretary of the Tongan Catholic Community Maata Uoifalelahi was especially “moved” to have the Cardinal there for the celebration.

“It’s a one in a million chance for us to get this opportunity, it is a great blessing to have him here with us.”

After the festa there was a Tongan gathering, where the Tongan community gathered together with the Cardinal.

 “There was a lot of emotion and a lot of joy connecting families, because his Eminence knows a lot of the families back home, and was able to talk a lot about them” Fr Grace said.

Fr Grace would like to recognise local businesses and dedicated community members for their contributions to the festa.

“I’d like to thank Casella Wines, Guidolin Agrimac, Bertoldos, Calabria family wines, itravel, and Pat Zirilli Pharmacy, Garry Bazzacco's Photography,  Francesca's Photography and many other sponsors who have all been instrumental”.