Senedd to mark the beginning of the Assembly of Communities
6 June 2011
Different faiths, cultures and communities will all join in an event at the Senedd on 6 June ahead of the official opening of the National Assembly for Wales.
The Celebration of the Mace will celebrate Wales’s diversity and call for greater understanding between all sections of society throughout the country.
It also marks the start of the Assembly of Communities, one of the National Assembly for Wales’s key themes for the next five years.
“The new Assembly represents communities across the whole of Wales,” said the Presiding Officer, Rosemary Butler AM.
“I want the Fourth Assembly to directly interact with communities across the country. This will not be limited to geographic communities, but will include all cultural, interest and demographic groups. No one in Wales should feel that their voice cannot be heard.
“Whether it’s an issue that affects their town, village or community, I want people to know that I and my fellow Assembly Members are here to represent them and to allow them to have their say on the issues that matter. The Celebration of the Mace represents the beginning of this commitment.
“I would also like to say thank you to Aled Edwards, of the Inter-faith Council for Wales, who has worked in partnership with the Assembly Commission to ensure that this event fully reflects all our communities in Wales.”
The event will see speeches, readings and hymns delivered by some of Wales’s leading community figures.
Programme of events
The Welcome
All are invited to stand as the celebration party leads the Presiding Officer, Deputy Presiding Officer and the Assembly party leaders to their seats before the Mace.
The Azaan given by Sheikh Yaqub Kutkut
The Reflection of Faith and Belief
Community from Creation
The creation narrative from Genesis 1: 1-5 read in Hebrew by Diana Soffa of the Jewish community.
A dance from 1957 film Naya Daur performed by members of Sanatan Dharma Mandal and the Hindu Community Centre, Cardiff
Shabad, or hymn, read by Surinder Channa of the Sikh community.
Reading from the Bahá’i faith by Kathryn Delpak MBE
Hymn, “Tydi a Roddaist” sung by Mark Rowland
Community from the Human Journey
Readings from:
Monsignor Robert Reardon
The Reverend Garth Morgan Jones
The Reverend Elfed Godding
Alan Schwartz MBE
Saleem Kidwai OBE
Naran Patel
Kathryn Delpak MBE
Surinder Channa
Dorje Tsig-dün - the seven thunderbolt phrases of Padmasambhava sang by Ngakma Nor’dzin Pamo and Ngakpa ‘ö-Dzin Tridral
A reflection on making and sustaining community said by the Reverend Alan Bayes, Chair of the Inter-faith Council for Wales.
Community from the Individual Human Right
Snapshots from our history read by Elisa Morris, Nadia Hassan and Bedwyr ap Ion, three members of the “Getting on Together” project from Ysgol Plasmawr, Cardiff.
RAF Salon Orchestra play the atmospheric Ashokan Farewell
Acts of Commitment
The Statutory Commitment will be made by Kate Bennett, National Director for Wales of the Equality and Human Rights Commission
The Civil Commitment will be made by Michelle Matheron of WCVA and Public Affairs Cymru
Presiding Officer’s Commitment
The RAF Salon Orchestra play Nimrod
The Celebration Dismissal
The National Anthem
The Blessing given by the Most Reverend Dr Barry Morgan, Archbishop of Wales.
The Welsh Mace rests in Siambr when the National Assembly for Wales sits in session. Made of gold, silver and brass, the mace bears the Assembly’s official symbol at its head. Presented as a gift from the Parliament of New South Wales at the ceremony to mark the official opening of the Senedd, in Cardiff on St David’s Day 2006, it symbolises the authority of a legislature which has, in the exercise of its functions, to:
Promote sustainable development.
Pay due regard to the principle that there should be equality of opportunity for all people.
To uphold human rights