Scottish Catholic Observer

Pope Benedict XVI called on Catholics to remain in ‘Communion with Christ and communion with one another’ in his closing message to the International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin yesterday.

In his pre-recorded message, broadcast during the Statio Orbis in Croke Park which attracted around 80,000 pilgrims, the Holy Father described the significance of the forthcoming Year of Faith starting from October, which commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council and the changes in lay participation as a result.

“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. “Its true purpose was to lead people to a personal encounter with the Lord, present in the Eucharist, and thus with the living God, so that through this contact with Christ’s love, the love of his brothers and sisters for one another might also grow. Yet not infrequently, the revision of liturgical forms has remained at an external level, and ‘active participation’ has been confused with external activity.”

“In a changed world, increasingly fixated on material things, we must learn to recognize anew the mysterious presence of the Risen Lord, which alone can give breadth and depth to our life.”

The Holy Father also addressed the clerical abuse crisis that has so wounded Ireland.

The Pontiff 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.’

The Pope’s message was preceded by a Homily from Papal Legate Cardinal Marc Ouellet who described the day’s readings as a’“message of great hope and confidence.’

“We do experience limitations and failures in the Church, but the Lord sustains us, healing our wounds and strengthening our love,” Cardinal Ouellet said. “We are not alone; the Spirit of Pentecost dwells in us. The communion of saints, with Mary at its heart, comes to our assistance as soon as we have rung the bell of prayer in total confidence. Keep hope and be glad, for the kingdom of God is near!”

Archbishop Dairmuid Martin of Dublin, president of the Dublin congress, concluded the messages with his recollections of working with Bishops from Poland and Vietnam who described the “extraordinary lengths they went to in order to be able to celebrate or participate in the Eucharist in secret” during periods of persecution.

“We must go away from here with a renewed passion for the Eucharist,” the archbishop said. “We must go away with a renewed love the Church. We must go away from here wanting to tell others not just about the Congress, but about Jesus Christ himself who in giving himself in sacrifice revealed to us that God is love.”