BY Ryan McDougall | March 29 | 
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Spanish seeking a Mass of their own in Scotland wish to grow
An Edinburgh man has been inspired by his baby son and a love of his home country to organise a Spanish language Mass.
Lucas Toledo, 38, is a parishioner of St Mary Star of the Sea Church, Leith, and moved to Scotland 19 years ago to attend university.
He noticed Mass was available in many languages but couldn’t find any in Spanish.
He now hopes the debut Spanish Mass set to take place on May 26 will add to the diversity on offer and will help speakers of the language form a closer community.
“The main motivation behind it is my four-month-old son: I want him to grow up Catholic and keep in touch with the Spanish language and all that entails with the culture around it,” he said.
Spanish speakers
“Having lived in Scotland for 19 years, I feel like I’m gradually losing touch with the Spanish-speaking side of my identity and of course religion plays a major part in that as Catholicism is quite a big thing in the Spanish-speaking world.”
After having the idea, he ran it past his Spanish-speaking friends who lent him their support.
“We’re just now wrapping things up, making our social media presence known to let as many people as possible know that it’s happening, because there are thousands of Spanish speakers in Scotland but there isn’t anything like this for us,” Mr Toledo said.
“It’s also a great way to make new friends. I’ve noticed with friends I have met through the Church who speak Spanish there’s a deep friendship there because of our shared Faith.”
The name of Mr Toledo’s group, Unidos en la Fe, means United in Faith.
Seeking priest
After Mass, all who attended will be invited for a pot-luck lunch, and members are encouraged to make a dish from their town, city or country for others to try.
The group is currently in talks with the Church to find a priest who will be best suited for the Mass.
If the debut goes as planned, the group hopes to host other events for Spanish and Spanish-speaking Catholics in Scotland.
Mr Toledo said: “There are certainly other things on the cards but I can’t say just yet.
“We’re starting with the Mass and I think the idea is to build up our community and perhaps organise a retreat or a talk eventually.
“I’m really interested in getting families involved and maybe having a catechism group in the Spanish language.”
For more about the group and the Spanish Mass, visit www.facebook.com/unidosEnLaFeEscocia/
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