OPINION:The 2012 Eucharistic Congress in Dublin will reflect the faith challenges facing Ireland, writes Archbishop Diarmuid Martin.
2012 WILL be an Olympian year for the Catholic Church in Ireland. As the 49th International Eucharistic Congress drew to a close in Quebec yesterday, Pope Benedict announced by live television link from Rome that the next congress will take place in 2012 in Dublin.
Significantly, 2012 will be the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the Second Vatican Council, which was an important moment in the engagement of the church with the modern world.
Many of us heard our parents talk about the Eucharistic Congress in Dublin in 1932, but very few people alive today actually experienced it. We live now in very different times. Many baptised Catholics, if asked, would not be too confident in saying what the Eucharist is, let alone what is the purpose of a Eucharistic Congress.
Most of the 12,000 participants at the Quebec Congress came from Canada and other parts of North America, but there were also significant numbers from each of the other continents. The theme of the congress was "The Eucharist, Gift of God for the Life of the World".
People who grew up with the idea of the Sunday obligation often thought of obligation in terms of sterile duty. In his address at the congress, however, Cardinal Barbarin, Archbishop of Lyons, reminded the participants that, in many languages, the word obligation is linked with the notion of gratitude or thanksgiving. Indeed, in English, it is not uncommon to hear people say "much obliged" when someone offers them the hand of friendship or service.
This may be a good starting point for anyone who might ask why the church in Ireland is planning to host a Eucharistic Congress in 2012.
There are two related reasons. In the first place, it is to reawaken the sense of gratitude towards a God who loves us so much that He made himself vulnerable for us, in life and in death, and who left us the Eucharist as a way of celebrating His continuing solidarity with us and His presence among us from one generation to the next.
In the second place, it is to invite people to reflect honestly on the meaning of the words of Jesus at the Last Supper, when He said: "I have given you an example that you should do for one another what I have done for you."
The first international Eucharistic Congress was held in France in 1881 and, since then, the tradition has developed of holding a congress every four years in a different country.
There are a number of objectives, including:
• Deepening understanding of and devotion to the Eucharist;
• Strengthening the relationship of solidarity between Catholics who come together from all over the world; and
• Emphasising the link between the Eucharist - which is Christ's gift of Himself - and action for justice, which involves the gift of self for others.
Previous Eucharistic Congresses were often linked with anniversaries or other events special to Catholics of the country in which they took place. The 1932 Congress in Dublin, for example, marked the 1,500th anniversary of St Patrick's ministry in Ireland.
Similarly, 2008 marks the 400th anniversary of the founding of Quebec City, the first permanent French settlement in North America. Some French pioneers with deep faith and a strong sense of mission were joined by groups of religious in establishing a community of faith in what was then New France.
Those who gathered in Quebec last week celebrated those first beginnings, but they were more concerned with the meaning of being a Catholic in Canada today. As well as gathering each day for a lively and beautifully celebrated Eucharistic liturgy, participants listened to presentations by keynote speakers, both lay and clerical, on the meaning and implications of the Eucharist. There were round-table discussions and opportunities to share faith with people from other countries and cultural backgrounds.
The Quebec congress was the culmination of years of preparation in which huge numbers of people engaged in a process of reflection and worked together towards a common end.
More than 2,000 volunteers welcomed pilgrims on their arrival; acted as stewards; provided packed lunches for thousands of participants each day, and cleaned up afterwards. To that extent it was not just people talking about the body of Christ, but people taking seriously their vocation to be the body of Christ.
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.
In the Amazon region of Brazil, they say "you can't catch yesterday's fish today". Faith in Jesus undoubtedly has a historical dimension, but Irish Catholics are not called to live in 1932. The challenge is to come to grips with what it means to be witnesses to Jesus in the cultural reality of the present time, which is quite different.
The Eucharistic Congress will be born out of the faith and the challenges and the needs of today. In order for it to be effective, it will need to be prepared over time at parish level, with some in-depth reflection on the meaning of the Eucharist and its place in the life of the church.
The congress itself will, therefore, be the high point of an ongoing process. It will provide a context for deepening faith by sharing faith, but it will also be a prophetic call to a renewal of faith, which is rooted in the following of Christ who came not to be served but to serve. It will provide an opportunity to explore a wide variety of issues from the perspective of faith; such as how we can better welcome the more recent arrivals in our society; how we can better respond to the reality of poverty, both locally and globally; how we can build a more tolerant and less violent society; how we can contribute to the development of a society which responds to the deepest needs of the human heart.
Diarmuid Martin is the Archbishop of Dublin