The
International Eucharistic Congress, due to take place in Dublin, in
June 2012, fits perfectly into the program for the modernisation of the
Church in Ireland, Pope Benedict XVI said Thursday as he greeted
participants at the Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Committee for
International Eucharistic Congresses.
National delegations from
across the globe gathered this week to discuss preparations for Dublin
2012, when the Archdiocese will open its doors, chapels and churches to
all those who want to take part in the week long event, centred on the
theme "The Eucharist, communion with Christ and with one another”.
The
Irish delegation was led by the Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin,
and speaking to them Thursday the Pope observed, “your Assembly has paid
great attention to this event, which is also part of the modernization
program of the Church in Ireland. The theme,… recalls the centrality of
the Eucharistic Mystery for the growth of the life of faith and every
authentic process of church renewal”.
Pope Benedict also
remarked that this week’s meeting falls on the 50th anniversary of the
Eucharistic Congress in Munich, Bavaria, which marked a turning point in
understanding these ecclesial events, and which the Pope said “I had
the pleasure of attending ... in person, as a young professor of
theology”. In addition, the 2012 Congress in Dublin will have a jubilee
character, as it will be the 50th global gathering, and it will also be
50 years since the opening of the Second Vatican Council.
Tracing
the long history International Eucharistic Congresses, the Pope said
“through the characteristic formula of the "statio orbis”, they
emphasize the universality of the celebration: in fact, it is always a
celebration of faith gathered around the Eucharistic Christ, Christ's
supreme sacrifice for humanity, which involves the faithful not only of a
particular Church or nation, but as far as possible, from all over the
globe. It is the Church, which gathers around the Lord”.
“The
task of Eucharistic Congresses, especially in the current context”, he
concluded “is also to make a distinctive contribution to the new
evangelization by promoting mystagogical evangelization, which takes
place in the school of the Church in prayer and through the liturgy”.
SIC: VR/INT'L