50th International Eucharistic Congress Dublin, Ireland June 10th-17th, 2012
Since Pope Benedict XVI announced that the 50th International Eucharistic Congress will be held in Dublin in June 2012, people have been asking "what exactly is a Eucharistic Congress and what is its purpose?"
A Eucharistic Congress is an international gathering of people which aims to:
promote an awareness of the central place of the Eucharist in the life and mission of the Catholic Church
help improve our understanding and celebration of the liturgy
draw attention to the social dimension of the Eucharist.
The Congress normally takes place every four years. The daily celebration of the Eucharist is at the very heart of the Congress. The wider programme of the Congress includes other liturgical events, cultural events, catechesis and testimonies, and workshops during the week of the Congress. The most recent Congress was held in Quebec in 2008 and was a source of encouragement and renewal for the many thousands who took part.
Most people in Ireland are familiar with the fact that a Eucharistic Congress was held in Ireland in 1932. Our parents and grand-parents speak of it as a significant event in their own experience of Church. Since we started preparing for the Congress, people from all over Ireland and even further afield have sent us a wide range of memorabilia relating to the 1932 Congress, some of which will be on display at a special exhibition in 2012.
Though We Are Many - Official Congress Hymn
The Context for the Congress
The year 2012 will mark the 50th anniversary of the inauguration of the Second Vatican Council. The Council marks an important moment of renewal and deepening of the Church’s teaching and of her understanding of herself as the Body of Christ and the People of God.
From the beginning of the planning process, it seemed appropriate then that the Eucharistic Congress in 2012 should celebrate this important anniversary of the Second Vatican Council, and that the Congress should have a Eucharistic theme sourced in the documents of the Council. The theme approved by Pope Benedict, and drawn from Lumen Gentium 7, is “The Eucharist: Communion with Christ and with one another”
The Congress can contribute to a better understanding of the teaching of the Council, not simply as history, but as wisdom which is placed at the service of "the modern world", an important theme of Vatican II.
In the Eucharist we are invited to a personal act of encounter with the Lord who gives himself for us, in Word and Sacrament. That encounter opens the path for new relationships in which we, as Church and as individual Christians are invited to engage in a social mission, in which we in turn are given for others. The Eucharist, as the theme of the previous Congress (Quebec 2008) reminds us, is “the gift of God for the life of the world”
(cf. Jn. 6:51).
Eucharistic Congress Prayer
Pastoral Preparation Programme (in 4 Stages)
The Pastoral Preparation Programme which will take place between now and June 2012, is presented as an itinerary for the journey towards the great gathering for the Eucharistic Congress.
The year 2012 will mark the