The organisers of the 50th International Eucharistic Congress in
Dublin next year have said they hope the event will help to reinvigorate
the Irish Church.
Delegates from some 70 countries met on June
1-3 to hear plans for the events that Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of
Dublin described as a “vital element in the reform agenda of the Irish
Church”.
Participants at congress, which takes place on June
10-17, 2012, will hear reflections, catechesis and workshops from
leading bishops and theologians.
A day devoted to ecumenical communion
through baptism will be led by the Anglican Archbishop of Dublin, the
Most Rev Michael Jackson.
Cardinal Peter Turkson, president of the
Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, will preside at a day
dedicated to reconciliation.
That session will also be addressed by
Richard Moore, who was blinded by a British Army rubber bullet in
Northern Ireland in 1972.
Mr Moore subsequently tracked down the soldier
who fired the round and established a friendship with him.
Other
senior Church leaders who have so far been confirmed to lead events are
Honduran Cardinal Óscar Rodríguez Maradiaga and Cardinal André
Vingt-Trois of Paris.
Fr Kevin Doran, secretary-general of the
2012 congress, said that he expected around 25,000 people to participate
in the catechesis and workshops and 80,000 to participate in the
concluding Mass.
The theme for the congress is “The Eucharist: Communion
With Christ and With One Another”.
To raise awareness about the
event a congress bell has been taken to parishes and Catholic schools
around Ireland.
In each community the bell is rung as a sign of
invitation to the Dublin event.
More information is available on the congress website, Iec2012.ie.
The Irish Church will host a national eucharistic congress at Knock shrine, in County Mayo, on June 25-26.