Ireland: Eucharistic Congress

Some of you may be wondering already about a spring or summer trip.  Perhaps you could combine it with a pilgrimage to a place where prayer is needed.  A priest friend reminded me about the Eucharistic Congress to take place in Ireland, only about 18 weeks from now.

The Eucharistic Congress is being held in Dublin from Sunday 10th June to Sunday 17th June 2012. That is 18 weeks and 5 days’ time.

Pilgrims from Ireland or anywhere else in the world can book accomodation online and can book online to take part in the Congress on the Eucharistic Congress website http://iec2012.ie/

The Eucharistic Congress website gives full details of the programme – which includes a parallel catechetical programme for young people and a Theological conference in nearby Maynooth College.

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11 Comments

  1. frleo says:

    I have the honor of accompanying a group of state chaplains of the Knights of Columbus.I am really looking forward to attending the Eucharistic Congress

  2. Supertradmum says:

    I hope I am wrong, but the members of the Latin Mass communities here tell me that although the Congress officials are going out of their way to accommodate Ecumenical worship, there is no EF at the main venue. Those TLM people I talked to are not going at all because they are concerned about the types of Masses being planned. I tried to phone the coordinators to find out about any EF, but have so far, not found out. If anyone knows, please pass this on, as I cannot recommend a Congress which boycotts the EF as one of the main daily Masses.

    If one looks at the description of liturgical music on the website, one would see that it is not the same philosophy of music as Pope Benedict XVI, but the opposite, stressing emotions and subjectivity. http://www.iec2012.ie/index.jsp?p=109&n=160

    I know that the TLM Chaplaincy of St. Kevin’s in Dublin is involved somehow, but I have not been able to find out how. And, in a strange wording, the TLM is referred to on the official Host Church section of the website of the Congress as the “Latin Extraordinary Rite”.

    Also, no offense to the organizers, but the motto of the week is from Finegan’s Wake, by Joyce, one of the most blasphemous novels of the period. I can’t imagine the person who chose the logo has actually read the book.

    If anyone has more information of the inclusion of the EF during this week, please let me and others know.

  3. jaykay says:

    Supertradmum: It is actually amazing that St Kevin’s, Harrington St. (the Dublin Latin Mass Chaplaincy – established by Abp. Martin, bless him for that) is mentioned at all. However I think that, given the overall tone or spirit of the Congress, or at least as I deduce it from the programme, the EF is about the last thing they’d have in the actual Congress arena.

    I’m also quite amazed by the fact that in the “Mass in different languages” section they have: English (Australian); English (Scotland); English (Canadian); English (England and Wales)? What is behind all this? I mean I know we’ve ghettoised the church into language kraals by the elimination of Latin but honestly, to suggest that native English speakers are not mutually intelligible and need their own separate Masses is just… well… weird!

    Under the “Pastoral Preparation” section, the “Inclusive Parishes Project” and its document: “Communion and Inclusion: Towards an Inviting Church” is an indicator of why the Church in Ireland is in the state it’s in:

    http://www.iec2012.ie/index.jsp?p=109&n=4490

    The Youth section has the headline “GO! Be Church”. Honestly! Looks like it was composed by a 70s hipster trying to be down with the kids. I know if I were 30 years younger I would actively revolt against this sort of thing. In the actual 70s they were trying it on with us and we laughed at them (nutty Masses around coffee tables on retreats, holding hands and all that) because we knew we were being patronised. 35+ years later and that mentality is still around. Like I said, that’s why we are where we are today.

  4. mrose says:

    A Eucharistic Congress with heretics “participating” and leading “ecumenical services”?? I mean, ecumenism has become an awful joke to begin with, but it buggers the mind to think about an Anglican “bishop” leading a “Liturgy of Word and Water” with a schismatic and heretical Metropolitan preaching a homily, and a Protestant who denies that baptism is necessary for salvation giving a catechesis on baptism. Two of these three deny the Real Presence and yet they are leading things at a Eucharistic Congress – seriously?

    This information is all available from the website of the Eucharistic Congress itself.

  5. NoTambourines says:

    Supertradmum– interesting link. Most of the text sounds good, though its implementation in context is left in question by the pic of the girl with messy hair in a tank top with a saxophone.

    And there’s this at the end:

    “Finally [comma?] when we finish our liturgies we should ask the question, Was [capitalization?] this a meeting of God and God’s [pronoun?] people? If we can say yes then we have succeeded.”

    How about the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass? Anybody? Bueller?

  6. Dear Mrose,

    Let me clear, the Schismatic and heretical Metropolitan that you mention is under great criticism for involving himself at all in this “Eucharistic Congress.” Frankly the folks who are putting this thing together probably have less belief in the Real Presence than does the Anglican nor the Protestant. I think you should confine your vitriolics to members of your own household who get away with their modernism and dissent. Remember the last one held in Canada. What an insult to Christ and and to the Blessed Sacrament. Even the Byzantine Bishop had some intersting comments to make during his sermon at the event.

  7. Norah says:

    This is the email I sent to Fr Kevin Doran, Secretary General of the Eucharistic Congress, in March 2011 after I had watched Fr Doran on EWTN and then gone to check out the website.

    …This concern is the
    downplaying of the Catholic elements Eucharist itself , the reality of the
    body blood soul and divinity of Christ present in the Blessed Sacrament and
    the Mass as the representation of the Sacrifice of Calvary.

    . Father spoke of the fact that not many young Irish Catholics, like
    Australian Catholics, attend Holy Mass on Sunday. Surely that should have
    been your great focus: the re catechesis of the young as to the meaning of
    Holy Mass and Christ present body blood soul and divinity in the Eucharist
    which they receive at Holy Mass.

    I would guess that the young aren’t attending Mass because they, and their
    parents, have been poorly catechised in the Faith at school and from the
    pulpit for the last 40 years leaving them ignorant of the beauty of the Mass
    and the Real Presence which comes to them at every Mass.

    To use a Eucharistic Congress for social outreach is taking the easy option
    I think. A much harder but vitally necessary option is the urgent need for
    catechesis in the Faith if the authentic Catholic Faith is not going to
    disappear from the face of Ireland and this Eucharistic Congress would have
    been a marvellous opportunity to do this. Instead, it seems that the focus
    is on presenting Ireland to the world and show how inclusive you are instead
    of presenting the Faith to Ireland and then going out for the social
    outreach. Father Doran said that most of the people involved are under 30
    which would mean that most of them are involved in a Congress without a
    proper understanding of what the Eucharist is and you can’t give to others
    what you don’t have yourself.

    I will keep the organisers in my prayers and hope that this congress will
    indeed evangelise Irish Catholics in the most important meanings of the
    Eucharist – the Mass the unbloody representation of the Sacrifice of
    Calvary and the Eucharistic presence of Christ in Holy Communion.

    I received a polite reply from Fr Doran.

  8. digdigby says:

    This is the Ireland of Frank Duff and the truly sublime Edel Mary Quinn?

  9. Ceile De says:

    My wife and I were (back, in my case) in Ireland for a week and attended a very nice TLM at St Kevin’s on Sunday. Afterwards, Fr Deighan, head of the Dublin archdiocese TLM chaplaincy, told us that there will be a pontifical TLM during the Eucharistic Congress but which bishop it will be is not yet decided.
    The TLM was packed – many young people and young families. Other churches we visited had many people praying during the afternoon. (Note to self:) don’t count out Irish Catholicism quite yet.

  10. jaykay says:

    Norah: it doesn’t surprise me that you received a polite reply from Fr. Doran. He is a good man, a Dominican who edits the very orthodox Dominican monthly freesheet (yes, free!) “Alive” which sometimes attracts vitriol from Ireland’s soi-disant liberal class – when they can be bothered to notice such a backwards phenomenon as Catholicism from the olympian heights of their self-righteousness, that is.

    http://www.alive.ie/index.html

    In fact, “Alive” has devoted quite a few column inches to poor catechesis as one can see from browsing through the archive section, so Fr. Doran is well “alive” (ahem) to this issue. However, he is not totally in control of the Congress agenda, of course.

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