AT THE Chrism Mass in the Cathedral of St Patrick and St Felim, in Cavan, on April 5th Bishop of Kilmore Leo O’Reilly said openly what others had been thinking about the forthcoming Eucharistic Congress in Dublin.“Many have expressed doubts about the wisdom of having it at all, or having it at this time,” he said, but it would mark “an important milestone on our journey of the renewal in the church in Ireland”.
He said: “I believe that if we approach it in a spirit of repentance and see the congress as a stage on our journey of conversion, then we will find that it will be not just Good News, but great news, a great gift to our church and, please God, a new dawn of hope for all our people.”
Regardless, and with just over six weeks to go, it’s too late to stop now.
At Quebec in June 2008, when it was announced that this 50th Eucharistic Congress would be held in Dublin, few then foresaw the trauma ahead for the Irish Catholic Church.
Instead, it was seen as a fitting 80th anniversary commemoration of the 1932 Eucharistic Congress in Dublin which marked St Patrick’s arrival on this island 1,500 years beforehand.
Writing in The Irish Times in June 2008, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin asked rhetorically: “Why hold a Eucharistic Congress in Ireland at this particular moment in history? Comparisons will inevitably be made with the heady days of 1932 but, even if the church looks back to its tradition, it is always with a view to moving forwards.”
The Ferns report had been published in October 2005, but since that Quebec announcement we have had the Ryan report (May 2009), the Murphy report (November 2009), the Pope’s letter to Irish Catholics (March 2010) and the Cloyne report (July 2011).
There has also been Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s Vatican speech, after last July’s Cloyne report, and the announcement by Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Eamon Gilmore last November that Ireland’s embassy to the Holy See was to close.
An unprecedented seven apostolic visitation teams were sent by the Vatican to investigate the Irish church in 2011. A brief summary of their findings was published on March 20th last, the second anniversary of Pope Benedict’s letter to Irish Catholics.
Against such a background, you might say that the work of president of the International Eucharistic Congress 2012, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, its secretary general Fr Kevin Doran and their team in preparing for the congress is best described as a triumph of commitment over experience.
The congress begins in the RDS on June 10th and ends at Croke Park on June 17th. More than 7,000 people from 95 countries have committed to attending it, with fears now that Croke Park may not be sufficiently large to accommodate all those interested in attending the final Mass there.
It is estimated that as many as 20,000 may take part in the daily events at the RDS. In Quebec four years ago, the number taking part in such daily events was 12,000.
A theological symposium at Maynooth, from June 6th-9th, which has just 200 places, is understood to be almost fully booked. The theme for the congress itself is “The Eucharist: Communion with Christ and with one another”.
The programme at the RDS consists of prayer, Eucharist, workshops, discussion groups, catechesis and testimonies, cultural events, tours, exhibitions, and a Eucharistic procession.
A feature of this year’s congress will be an ecumenical element. Taking part in its first full day at the RDS, on Monday, June 11th, will be the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin Michael Jackson, Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev of the Russian Orthodox Church, and Rev Ruth Patterson of the Presbyterian Church.
The personal participation of Pope Benedict XVI at the congress in Dublin was never believed likely, despite much speculation. He will address it by video-link as he did at Quebec. Since 1881 just three popes have attended Eucharistic Congresses and each was in Rome.
Representing Pope Benedict as papal legate at the congress will be Cardinal Marc Ouellet (69), former archbishop of Quebec and primate of Canada. He is prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for Bishops and president of its Commission for Latin America.
His principal public roles will include presiding at the opening Mass on June 10th at the RDS and the concluding Mass in Croke Park on June 17th. He will also open the Maynooth symposium.
Welcoming the announcement that he is to be papal legate, both the Catholic primate Cardinal Seán Brady and Archbishop Martin were notably warm. Archbishop Martin was “particularly pleased”.
As Archbishop of Quebec the Cardinal “had to face a very similar social and pastoral context to that which we have in Dublin, where traditional Catholicism was challenged by a rapid secularisation”, he said. He also recalled how their personal contacts “go back to our days as student priests in Rome ...”
Cardinal Ouellet is one of a powerful delegation of eight cardinals taking part as well as the president of the Vatican’s Council for Justice and Peace, Cardinal Peter Turkson, and the president of the Vatican’s Council Cor Unum (for human and Christian development), Cardinal Robert Sarah.
Also there will be the Archbishop of Paris, Cardinal André Vingt Trois, the Archbishop of Tegucigalpa in Honduras, Cardinal Oscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga, the Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, Cardinal Keith O’Brien, the Archbishop of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cardinal Laurent Monsenqwo, and Cardinal Seán Brady.
Also from the Vatican will be Archbishop Joseph Tobin, secretary of the Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, and Archbishop Piero Marini of the Vatican’s Committee for the International Eucharistic Congresses.
Lay participants include former taoiseach John Bruton, former European commissioner and attorney general Peter Sutherland, and writers Prof William Reville, David Quinn, Breda O’Brien and John Waters.
Congress details at iec2012.ie