Rome, Italy, Mar 14, 2012 / 03:04 am
The 50th International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin will offer much-needed hope to the Irish Catholic Church, according to event organizers making a pilgrimage to Rome for the March 17 feast of Saint Patrick.
“The congress is an important milestone in the process of renewal,” said Fr. Kevin Doran, secretary general of the event scheduled for June 10-17. He spoke to CNA in Rome, where he has traveled as part of a delegation that will meet with Pope Benedict XVI on March 14.
While “no single event is going to bring about renewal” in the Irish Church at once, Fr. Doran believes the global Eucharistic gathering will be an important step in the process.
A revival of Irish Catholicism, he suggested, starts with interior spiritual change rather than an outward restoration. The congress “is not about specifically the renewal of structures, but about the re-positioning of people's hearts.”