Scottish Catholic Observer

Pope Benedict XVI has called on Catholics to embrace ‘Communion with Christ’ and each other as the Church moves towards a brighter future.

The Holy Father sent this message to pilgrims at the close of the 50th International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin last Sunday.

In his pre-recorded message, broadcast during the Statio Orbis in Croke Park that attracted around 80,000 pilgrims, the Holy Father said the Church in Ireland and throughout the world had a chance to advance through a period of renewal in the wake of the congress.

Faith and renewal

The forthcoming Year of Faith, starting from October, which commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council, would be a focus for that renewal, the Pope said.

“It is clear that a great deal has been achieved; but it is equally clear that there have been many misunderstandings and irregularities,” the Pope said. “In a changed world, increasingly fixated on material things, we must learn to recognise anew the mysterious presence of the Risen Lord, which alone can give breadth and depth to our life.”

Pope Benedict added that this renewal was especially needed in Ireland after the clergy sex abuse scandal there. He said it was ‘a mystery’ why priests and other Church officials abused children entrusted in their care, undermining Faith in the Church ‘in an appalling way,’ but that the Church in Ireland would endure.

“Ireland has been shaped by the Mass at the deepest level for centuries, and by its power and grace generations of monks, martyrs and missionaries have heroically lived the Faith at home and spread the Good News of God’s love and forgiveness well beyond your shores,” he said. “You are the heirs to a Church that has been a mighty force for good in the world, and which has given a profound and enduring love of Christ and His blessed Mother to many, many others.”

Papal legate

The Pope’s message was preceded by a homily from Papal Legate Cardinal Marc Ouellet who said that the Faithful in Ireland could ‘rely on the Lord for a new beginning.’

“Faith is the most precious gift we have received with Baptism,” Cardinal Ouellet said. “Let’s not keep it private and fearful! Let it grow as a splendid tree through sharing everywhere. Even if we are sometimes tested in our Faith, do not be afraid, and remember who we are: the body of Christ intent on loving God over and above all things, intent on living in the spirit of the new and eternal covenant.”

Closing comments

At the end of the Mass, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin reflected on the events of the congress, saying that the Eucharist ‘has awakened in our hearts something which went way beyond our plans and expectations.’

“The Eucharist has been the nourishment of the extraordinary sense of our communion with one another which those of us who have been in the RDS [Royal Dublin Society] and are here today have experienced,” the archbishop said. “We have experienced the communion of the Church. We have been enriched by our sharing with those who have joined us from over 120 countries.”

The archbishop concluded his statement by calling on those present to carry what they have received in this congress out into the wider world.

Scottish hierarchy

Cardinal Keith O’Brien, one of the five principal concelebrants at the closing Mass of the congress, told the SCO upon his return home that ‘I myself was aware of the ‘Spirit’ moving throughout the week … the spirit of joy in the Catholic Christian faith; the spirit of reconciliation; and then a very great spirit of mission!’

The cardinal added: “One might ask what other Church, what other nation, would have dared to celebrate such a week with so many other difficulties in their country and in their Church in recent months and years. However the Irish people are indeed a people of Faith.”

Bishop Philip Tartaglia of Paisley told the SCO that during the congress he ‘never forgot that Ireland has been traditionally and, until relatively recently, arguably the most practising Catholic country in Europe.’

“Throughout its history, Catholic Ireland has contributed massively to the evangelisation of Europe and of the world,” the bishop said. “Ireland has provided priests and religious in prodigious numbers for the whole English speaking world and for the mission lands. And, as we know well, Scotland has benefited too from the spiritual treasury, which is the Catholic Church in Ireland. That was largely why I chose to attend the Eucharistic Congress in Dublin.”

Legacy

The Healing Stone that was unveiled as part of the IEC’s opening ceremony is being moved to a permanent home at the ancient sanctuary of St Patrick’s Purgatory at Lough Derg in County Donegal. The shaped Wicklow granite, inscribed with the words of a prayer composed by a survivor of clerical abuse, is to find its resting place where Cardinal Ouellet undertook a penitential pilgrimage during the congress and met with abuse survivors.

The next Eucharistic Congress in 2016 will be held in Cebu City, Philippines. As the announcement was made on by the Pope on Sunday, thousands of participants from the next host nation waved their flags and applauded with joy.