The International Eucharistic Congress Opens in Dublin

By Gerard O'Connell
Vatican Insider
June 9, 2012

http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/homepage/world-news/detail/articolo/eucarestia-eucharist-eucaristia-irlanda-ireland-15875/

Dublin

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin hopes it will promote 'reconciliation' and encourage 'renewal' in the Catholic Church in this island that has suffered greatly from the sexual-abuse of children by priests' scandal

Cardinal Marc Ouellet, representing Pope Benedict XVI, will preside at the opening Mass of 50^th International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin, on Sunday, June 10. Some 230 cardinals and bishops together with 12,000 priests will join in the opening celebration that will be attended by some 25,000 Catholics including over 7,000 pilgrims from 120 countries. The event will be broadcast on national TV and be given wide media coverage. Pope Benedict has recorded a message for the occasion.

The week-long ceremony will focus on the theme of "Communion" - a central concept of the Second Vatican Council, in 160 workshops, talks, discussions, group reflections. It will showcase Irish spirituality and culture in over 100 stands, and celebrate it with a rich contribution of Irish song and music.

It is only the second time the Congress is being held in Ireland and, significantly, each time it has taken place after an event that has shook the country. The first one was held in 1932, also in Dublin, not long after the end of a bitter civil war that divided the country and families. This time too it comes after another bitter event: - more than two decades of revelations of the terrible abuse of children by clergy and religious men and women that shocked the nation and brought the Catholic Church and its leadership to its knees .

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, who has given courageous leadership in dealing with this scandal, is hosting the Congress. He said he hopes that, like its 1932 predecessor, it too will contribute to promoting "reconciliation" within the Catholic Church and people in this green island, and foster a much needed "renewal" of the Church in this land once known as "the island of saints and scholars".

On the eve of the Congress, Archbishop Martin took a step in the direction of renewal by ordaining the country's first permanent deacons, eight for the archdiocese of Dublin. He also ordained one priest, which was significant too as the number of vocations to the priesthood has declined drastically in the country, from 409 in 1964 to a mere 6 in 2011. In 1932 there were 10 seminaries, today there are 3, including the one in Rome.

At the same time, however, as an Irish Times survey taken on the eve of the Congress has shown, notwithstanding the terrible impact of the sex-abuse of children by clergy scandal and the onward advance of secularization in the Irish Republic (where 84% of the people define themselves as Catholic), some 31% of people attend mass weekly, another 8% do so every two weeks, while a further 20% attend at least every three months, and many more go once a year or more. This rate of Church attendance is higher than in most other European countries, and offers the basis for hope of renewal in the Irish Church in the years ahead.

This 50^th Eucharistic Congress is being held against such a background, and in the midst of a harsh economic crisis that has hit the island very hard. The Congress will conclude on Sunday, June 17.