Ken Wyatt (Hasluck, Liberal Party, Minister for Aged Care) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak about a very happy experience that my wife and I had on Sunday, 1 October, with the Ethiopian community at their church in Bickley Road, Kenwick, in my electorate of Hasluck. We were invited to attend the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church to celebrate the feast of the finding of the holy cross, which is called Meskel. It's an annual religious festival holiday in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, part of Ethiopia's intangible heritage, and held every year on 27 September in honour of the finding of the True Cross of Christ.

Meskel commemorates the finding of the True Cross in the fourth century, when the Roman empress Helena discovered the True Cross on which Christ was crucified. The celebration includes dancing, feasting and the lighting of a massive bonfire, known as Demera. It is based on the belief that Queen Eleni, as she was known, had a revelation in a dream. She was told she would make a bonfire and that the smoke would show her where the True Cross was buried. She ordered the people of Jerusalem to bring wood and make a huge pile. After frankincense was added to it, the bonfire was lit and the smoke rose high up in the sky, returning to the ground exactly at the spot where the cross had been buried. She dug and found the three crosses. One of them was the True Cross used to crucify Jesus Christ. Empress Helena then gave a piece of the True Cross to all churches, including the Ethiopian church.

As a guest of honour at this one-off major Ethiopian Orthodox festival, I was accorded the privilege of jointly lighting the Demera. I watched as the flames burnt the wood stack and the stake in the middle that held up the cross. We waited until the fire burnt the stake enough to let it fall freely to the ground. Some believe that the direction of the smoke and the final collapse of the heap indicates the course of future events. In this case, the stake fell forward to the north, perhaps meaning that the northern community will have a positive, prosperous new year.

Although the church service was in the Amharic language, it was fascinating to listen to their songs and chants around the Demera and to the activities and the blessing of the tradition of Meskel. I had previously had the opportunity to support the Ethiopian church and community by assisting with the visa for Monk Tessema, who led the service. It was an honour to meet Monk Tessema and see his devotion to the church and community. Indeed, we have diverse cultural and religious communities in Australia, and I feel fortunate to have been invited to this Meskel celebration.

The Ethiopian community is strong in Perth, and their church is important to them. It was started some 19 years ago by the head priest, Melake Amin Tsegay Tedla, who is held in high regard within the community. Sadly, he was not in attendance on that Sunday because he was in hospital recuperating, and I wish him a speedy recovery. The church has been at the current 33,000-square-metre site since 2011. Their goal is to raise money to build a larger church. I wish to thank Letty Durkin and her church committee, Monk Tessema, and the passionate and devoted Ethiopian community for a memorable community experience of being allowed to have the privilege of celebrating in their Meskel.

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