Tenyidie Version of Lord’s Prayer Unveiled in Jerusalem: A Historic Milestone for Nagaland’s Angami Catholic Community

The Tenyidie-language version of the Lord’s Prayer was formally unveiled and blessed during a ceremony at the Pater Noster Church on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem on October 24, marking a historic moment for the Angami Catholic community of Nagaland. The event brought together religious leaders, community representatives, and dignitaries to commemorate the translation and liturgical debut of the prayer in the Tenyidie dialect.

The Tenyidie language, spoken by the Angami people of Nagaland in India’s Northeast, has long served as a carrier of cultural and spiritual identity. While the Lord’s Prayer is ubiquitous in Christian worship globally, this represents the first known official liturgical translation into Tenyidie for use in Catholic rites. The initiative reflects decades of effort by local clergy and linguists to preserve indigenous languages within the liturgical life of the Church, particularly in a region where Christianity coexists with deep-rooted tribal traditions. The choice of the Pater Noster Church—traditionally associated with the Our Father—adds symbolic weight, linking a local linguistic revival to a global sacred space.

According to reports by EastMojo, the ceremony was concelebrated by senior clergy from the Diocese of Kohima and visiting Franciscan officials from Jerusalem. Father James Lotha, coordinator of the Nagaland Catholic Bishops Commission for Liturgy, described the moment as a divine convergence of our ancestral tongue and the universal prayer of Christ. He added that for our elders and youth alike, hearing the Lord’s Prayer in Tenyidie within the hallowed halls of the Pater Noster Church is a testament to the universality of faith and the resilience of our cultural heritage. Community elders present at the event echoed the sentiment, calling the occasion a bridge between the Mount of Olives and the hills of Kohima.

The successful unveiling is expected to open pathways for further liturgical translations into other indigenous languages of Nagaland and the wider Northeast Indian region. Church officials have indicated that the Tenyidie version may soon be incorporated into regular Sunday Masses across Angami parishes, particularly during special feast days and diocesan assemblies. Beyond the local diocese, the project could serve as a model for other episcopal conferences seeking to inculturate the liturgy in linguistically diverse regions. Scholars of religion and linguists from institutions in Delhi and Rome are reportedly in talks to document the process, potentially positioning Nagaland as a pioneering case study in indigenous liturgical inculturation within the Catholic Church.