Cebu, the Philippines, 26 January 2016 - For the whole week, Cebu City will be hosting more than 15,000 local and foreign delegates for the 51st International Eucharistic Congress. At the opening prayer, a throng of participants gathered together in worship at the Pavilion built for this purpose. For the first time in the history of the IEC, the plenary session of this quadrennial Catholic gathering, is held under one roof. High-profile speakers have been invited to reflect on the Eucharist and its social dimension on the mission of the Church.
A Pre-Congress happened Cebu Doctors’ University in Mandaue City where close to 2,000 participants gathered for the three-day Theological Symposium. It was attended mostly by theology professor, religious, seminarians, catechists and students. In his welcome remark the Archbishop of Cebu, Jose Palma gave the proper perspective of the symposium as “not just as an event of words and lectures, but of greater understanding of the Holy Eucharist.”
The Opening of the IEC which took place at the Plaza Independencia was described as “joyful.” A crowd of about 350,000 people stretched hundred of meters away reaching near the iconic Magellan’s Cross symbolizing the planting of the faith in Philippine soil. The Salesian Papal Legate His Excellency Charles Maung Cardinal Bo, DD presided the Eucharistic celebration and won the sentiments of the Cebuanos by trying to speak in their native tongue.
The Salesians are significantly represented at the IEC. Besides the Papal Legate, other notable confreres have been invited among them Fr. Francis Moloney from Australia, His Eminence Joseph Cardinal Zen from Hong Kong and Archbishop Thomas Menamparambil from India. Fr. Francis Gustilo and his team of Salesians also facilitated one of the Concurrent Sessions of the Theological Symposium and handled the Program for the IEC Proper.
As part of his itinerary, Cardinal Bo visited this morning the Cebu City Provincial Jail where he extended the Pope’s presence to the inmate. Despite the drizzle, the 800 the now famous dancing inmates gave a heartfelt performance. On his part, he encouraged them to keep hoping because the Eucharist is has always been about hope. On Thursday, January 28 he will visit Don Bosco Training Center and its Youth Center in Pasil. Identified as one of the city’s most depressed areas, the Salesians have been working in Pasil since 1977. This visit sends out a message that he would like to reach out to poor children and out-of-school youth.
The 51st IEC now happening in Cebu is indeed a celebration of the faith. Yet its challenges are beyond the confines of the Church. It extends to a Philippine society waiting to be transformed. The Eucharist is the source for such transformation.
