The 2008 International Eucharistic Congress

The year 2008 marks the 400th anniversary of the beginning of the Catholic Church in Canada. The late Pope John Paul the Second accepted the proposal of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Canada, and it was announced that the International Eucharistic Congress would be celebrated in Quebec City in 2008. The Archdiocese of Toronto will send 400 delegates to the assembly in total while 2 delegates will represent each parish.

In order to promote prayerful preparation from Catholics in Canada, the Ark of the New Covenant, which was blessed in Rome on May 11th 2006, will be traveling to different parishes in the country. The Ark is a small altar, on which the Eucharist is exposed in a monstrance for adoration. The Ark of the New Covenant will be traveling to St. Justin Martyr’s Church (Unionville) on January 24th (Wed). From noon onwards, parishioners may freely visit to pray. In the evening at 7:00 pm there will be a mass and all parishioners that reside in Markham are welcome.

The theme of the 49th International Eucharistic Congress, which will be celebrated from June 15th to 22nd 2008, is: “The Eucharist, gift of God for the life of the world”.

The first International Eucharistic Congress was held in France in 1881. There were about 300 attendees who came from all over Europe to promote the adoration of the Eucharist. In recent years the number of participants has increased to fifteen thousand. The 7 days of activities include: catechesis, liturgy, social justice and cultural exchanges. Ever since Pope Paul VI attended the International Eucharistic Congress held in 1964 in Bombay, the presence of the Pope has been a tradition. Therefore the attendance of Pope Benedict at the Quebec congress is expected.

Please pray for the IEC. If possible, please participate in the nightly Adoration of the Eucharist and Holy Hour.