The Church of England's first Persian language translation of its Holy Communion service was launched on Saturday at Wakefield Cathedral.

The new Farsi liturgy was authorised by the CofE's House of Bishops and features English and Farsi versions side by side.

Around 500 Iranians attended the service, at which the Bishop of Loughborough, Iranian-born Rt Rev Guli Francis-Dehqani, presided. With the Bishop of Bradford, Rt Rev Toby Howarth, and the Bishop of Durham, Rt Rev Paul Butler, who also took part in the service, she supports work with Persian Christians in England.

Francis-Dehqani's father was the late Bishop Hassan Dehqani-Tafti, who was forced into exile after an attempt on his life and the murder of his only son.

She told reporters before the service: 'This translated service is highly significant in the life of the Church of England as we seek to find ways to adapt to the reality where we find minority communities as part of our congregations.

'This enables English speaking and Farsi speaking people to worship alongside each other in an integrated way and is really significant. I hope it will be the first of others to come. There seems to be something happening. Iranians are quite spiritual in nature and if they come to our churches we want them to feel welcomed. This is a really joyful thing for us to celebrate. It is very exciting.'

In a message to the congregation, the Archbishop of Canterbury said: 'The book of Revelation paints a picture of a great multitude from every nation, tribe, people and language standing before the throne praising God. Today is a tiny foretaste of that glorious vision, and I pray that as you worship together you will catch a glimpse of the worldwide family of faith that we are part of by God's grace.'