IRELAND
Vatican Insider
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
Gerard O’Connell
Rome
Cardinal Marc Ouellet, representing Pope Benedict XVI, will preside at the opening Mass of 50th 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.
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