Over 300,000 gather for religious festival in Mexico
By IANSMonday, August 16, 2010
Guadalajara (Mexico), Aug 16 (IANS/EFE) More than 310,000 people from 43 countries gathered at La Luz del Mundo (The Light of the World) church here for the Holy Supper, the sect’s most important annual celebration, a church spokesman said.
At the ceremony, held during the week of the Holy Assembly which concluded Sunday, the pastor of Luz del Mundo, or LLDM, Samuel Joaquin Flores, evoked Jesus Christ’s last night on earth.
Assisted by 100 bishops and dozens of deacons, the leader distributed bread and unfermented grape juice among 15,000 of the faithful who gathered beginning early Saturday at the Protestant Christian sect’s main church, as well as among the hundreds of thousands of pilgrims who had flocked to the streets around the 14 other church locations.
The pilgrims of all ages observed the ceremony on huge television screens set up outside the main entrances of the churches.
Within the framework of the ceremony, 12 new deacons from Costa Rica, the US, France, Honduras, El Salvador and Mexico were consecrated.
The week of the Holy Assembly began Aug 9 and concluded Sunday with the departure of the pilgrims who travelled from all over the globe to be present at their sect’s most important festival.
–IANS/EFE
