First Filipino-language mass celebrated in Zadar

Church of St. Simon in Zadar (Photo: Berthold Werner/CC BY-SA 4.0)

ZAGREB, 8 July (Hina) – The first organised mass for Filipinos living in the Zadar Archdiocese was celebrated in their native language on Monday evening at St Simeon’s Church, a well-known pilgrimage site.

The service marked the first organised gathering in Zadar of a foreign Catholic community for worship in its native language, reflecting the growing number of members of the Filipino Catholic community who have settled in the archdiocese in recent years.

The mass in the Filipino language, the officially standardised version of Tagalog spoken by around 25 million people, was led by Capuchin friar Michael Angelo Flores from Rome, who was on his way to Međugorje.

The church was filled with Filipino worshippers, many of whom had waited four years for regular services in their native language.

Tagalog-language masses were first introduced in Zagreb in October 2025 and are now celebrated three times every Sunday, accompanied by a Filipino choir.

Croatia is home to an estimated 16,000–17,000 Filipino nationals, with their numbers continuing to grow, unlike those of workers from some other Asian countries.

In October 2024, Croatia and the Philippines signed a labour market cooperation memorandum aimed at strengthening institutional cooperation on employment and labour mobility.

According to Ministry of the Interior data on residence and work permits, Zadar County ranks fifth in Croatia for the number of foreign workers, behind the City of Zagreb, Istria, Split–Dalmatia and Primorje–Gorski Kotar counties.