Dublin has been named as the host city for the 50th International Eucharistic Congress which will take place in 2012.
The announcement was made this evening by Pope Benedict XVI as part of his homily during the final mass of the International Eucharistic Congress in Quebec. The pope delivered the address from Rome via a live video link-up.
Attending the Congress in Quebec city, Cardinal Seán Brady, Archbishop of Armagh and Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, Archbishop of Dublin, welcomed the news.
"On behalf of the Catholic faithful of Ireland, we are honoured and humbled that the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, has chosen Dublin to host the 50th International Eucharistic Congress in 2012.
"While the theme for the next Congress has yet to be finalised, we are deeply conscious that 2012 also marks the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council," the statement said.
The Congress will be an international event and the celebration will attract thousands of pilgrims.
It is just the second time that Dublin has hosted the International Eucharistic Congress. In 1932 the final mass took place in the Phoenix Park with approximately half a million people in attendance. After the mass ended four processions made their way from the Park to O'Connell Street where a blessing was given by the papal legate Cardinal Lorenzo Lauri.
The first International Eucharistic Congress, in France in 1881, gathered 300 people at the head of Eucharistic movements in European countries.
Since then the format of Congresses evolved and they now attract some 12,000 to 15,000 participants for a full week of celebrations, adoration, cultural events and commitments to aid the poor.
From the outset, the Pope was always represented at the celebration of Eucharistic Congresses by a special Delegate but in 1964, Pope Paul VI took part in the last two days of the Congress held in Bombay, an initiative followed by his successor, John Paul II.
