POPE BENEDICT XVI has announced that Dublin will host the 50th Eucharistic Congress in 2012.
It will mark the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council and the 80th anniversary of the 1932 Eucharistic Congress in Dublin, which commemorated the 1,500th anniversary of the arrival of St Patrick in Ireland and is believed to have been the largest public event on this island in the 20th century.
The pope made the announcement yesterday in a homily, delivered via video-link from Rome, during the final Mass of the 49th Eucharistic Congress, which concluded in Quebec yesterday.
It marked the 400th anniversary of the founding of that city and was attended by crowds estimated at 12,000-15,000 people.
The congress, which began on June 15th, was attended by a delegation representing the Irish Bishops' Conference, led by the Catholic primate Cardinal Seán Brady and the Archbishop of Dublin, Most Rev Diarmuid Martin.
Welcoming the announcement "on behalf of the Catholic faithful of Ireland" they said they were "honoured and humbled" that Pope Benedict had chosen Dublin to host the 50th Eucharistic Congress.
"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," they said.
They continued that "the hosting of the congress in Dublin will be an international event. The celebration will attract thousands of pilgrims and will enable Catholics at home and abroad to meet, pray together and discuss issues of faith."
Noting that this is the second time that Ireland will host an International Eucharistic Congress, they said that, while the 1932 congress was considered an organisational success and showcased Catholic faith in the newly-established State, "we live in different times now".
It was, they said, their hope "that the 2012 congress will be an opportunity for the Catholic Church in Ireland to both reflect on the centrality of the Eucharist at the heart of our increasingly diverse community, and, to give renewed impetus to the living of faith".
Over the next four years "parishes are invited to suggest how best to celebrate the 2012 congress", they said, and that "in all our preparations we shall continue to: promote renewal of faith; bear witness for the Gospel; and, communicate the principle that the Eucharist represents the community professing itself as belonging to the Lord."
Other members of the Irish delegation in Quebec included Fr Kevin Doran, parish priest of Glendalough and secretary of the bishops' bioethics committee; Sr Anne Codd, secretary of the department of worship, pastoral renewal and faith development; and Barbara Gilroy, director of marriage agency Accord.
The first International Eucharistic Congress was held in France in 1881. Since then the format has evolved whereby participants take part in week-long celebrations, adoration, catechesis, cultural events, fraternal gatherings, and commitments to aid the poor. The pope had always been represented by a special Papal Legate at the celebration of Eucharistic congresses, though Pope Paul VI attended the Eucharistic Congress in Bombay in 1964.
