English cathedral holds first Anglican service in Farsi for Iranians in congregation

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A British cathedral has held a service in Farsi to cater for the growing Iranian population – in a first for the Church of England.

Bishops used a new Persian-language translation of Holy Communion in the “historic” service at Wakefield Cathedral in Yorkshire.

The congregation of about 450 heard the new Farsi liturgy and joined in hymns and prayers in both English and Farsi.

The service was led by the Iranian-born Bishop of Loughborough, the Rt Rev Guli Francis-Dehqani, whose brother was murdered for being a Christian in the country’s revolution.

Her family then fled Iran when she was just 14, in 1980.

The Church of England said the Farsi translation was launched to help growing numbers of Iranians in congregations who are learning English.

Bishop Francis-Dehqani, whose role focuses on supporting black, Asian and ethnic congregations, said: “We’ve had, over the last few years, over 75 clergy contact us to ask how can we best help to integrate the Iranians who we find are coming to our churches.

The former BBC radio producer added: “So in this liturgy we’re formally recognising a minority community as part of our wider body and crucially enabling Persian Farsi-speaking people and English-speaking people to worship alongside one another.”

The Bishop of Bradford, the Rt Revd Toby Howarth, an Islamic scholar, said it was possible to be Persian and Christian, because the country had a “long, proud history” that predates Islam.