Cardinal Marc Ouellet will represent Pope Benedict at the 50th International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin in June, it has been announced.
Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, who will host the event, today welcomed the announcement by the pope appointing Cardinal Ouellet as his personal legate to the congress.
“As Archbishop of Quebec, Cardinal Ouellet 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,” Dr Martin said.
“He was a strong voice for the Church in that changing situation. The Quebec Eucharistic Congress, though low key, impacted on Church and society, fostering unity of purpose and renewing evangelisation.”
He said one legacy of the Quebec congress was the fact that over a thousand Canadian pilgrims would come to Dublin in June.
Cardinal Ouellet has been a teacher of theology in Canada, Rome, and Latin America. He became Secretary of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity in 2001 before becoming Archbishop of Quebec two years later.
Dr Martin said he had asked all parishes and Church organisations in the Archdiocese of Dublin “to intensify spiritual and pastoral preparation for the Congress”.
He said it would be “an occasion to show-case what is happening pastorally in the Archdiocese and to give a warm welcome to the thousands of guests coming from overseas”.
The congress, he added, should not be seen as an isolated event but “as an important moment in the renewal of the Church which is taking place now and will continue after the congress”.
The Eucharistic Congress will be held in Dublin from June 10th to 17th.