On Wednesday 14th March 2012, I had the wonderful privilege of meeting the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI when I had the fantastic opportunity of accompanying a delegation from the International Eucharistic Congress, consisting of the Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin, the Secretary General of IEC2012 Fr Kevin Doran, and members of IEC2012 staff during the presentation of the Eucharistic Congress bell to the Holy Father. It was such a great privilege to represent the Irish Church at this special occasion, definitely one of the main highlights of my mission year so far. The bell was in Rome as part of preparations for the upcoming 50th International Eucharistic Congress – which takes place in Dublin from 10th-17th June.
The Holy Father received the Bell (which symbolises the calling of people to prayer) in a private audience with the IEC delegation just before the weekly Wednesday general audience in St. Peter’s Square. He blessed it and rang it loudly; it was great to be there to witness it! Colette Furlong, Pastoral Services Manager for the Congress then presented Pope Benedict XVI with the first commemorative medal made to mark this year’s event (the 50th International Eucharistic Congress) and Sheena Darcy, Office Manager of IEC2012 presented shamrock to the Holy Father. Archbishop Martin then explained to the Pope the significance of the icons which accompany the bell. The four icons ‘Our Lady of Refuge and St John the Evangelist’, ‘Pontocrator’, ‘Elijah and the Raven’ and ‘Pentecost’, represent the four parts of the Mass and also the four stages of pastoral preparation for the Congress, thereby offering an opportunity for reflection on the different themes of the Eucharist. Archbishop Martin then introduced the others in the delegation to the Holy Father. When my turn came and the Archbishop introduced me as being from the Emmanuel School of Mission I knew I was truly in the presence of great holiness as I fully realised what an amazing privilege it was to meet Pope Benedict. As I bowed down to kiss his ring and shook his hand I instantly felt great peace and realised that meeting the Holy Father was truly a most special grace filled moment that I would never forget for rest of my life. Immediately I thought about how my life has been so wonderfully blessed through my faith – God has brought me on an amazing journey and I paused to think about all the people who have helped me on that walk of life.
After our meeting with the Pope we all moved to watch the audience in the glorious sunshine in St. Peter’s Square. Audience day at St. Peter’s is always most colourful and enjoyable as pilgrims both young and old arrive in Rome from all over the world to be with the Holy Father. In his message Pope Benedict spoke about Mary as a model of prayer and meditation on God’s redeeming plan of love in Christ and the importance of invoking her intercession “let us entrust to her every moment of our own lives, and let her teach us the need for prayer, so that in loving union with her Son we may implore the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the spread of the Gospel to all the ends of the earth”.
The International Eucharistic Congress bell has been on pilgrimage throughout the 26 dioceses of Ireland for the past year and while in Rome the bell was also brought to St. Peter’s Basilica for evening Mass on March 14th celebrated by Archbishop Piero Marini, President of the Pontifical Committee for the International Eucharistic Congresses and later to the Irish College for Masses and celebrations during the weekend of Saint Patrick’s Day.
The Emmanuel School of Mission in Rome and the Emmanuel Community in Ireland have been assisting in the pastoral preparations for the IEC throughout the past year. Prior to leaving for Rome it was great to join the Community in Ireland on Saturday September 17th in welcoming the bell to The Square Shopping Centre in Tallaght as part of of the monthly ‘Prayer in the Square’ initiative organised by the Community. There was evangelisation throughout the day in the Shopping Centre during which shoppers had the opportunity to ring the bell, hear more about the Eucharistic Congress and receive an invitation to visit the Oratory for Mass, quiet prayer, reflective music and adoration.
The school joined with the Community in Ireland in facilitating an Advent city mission in Dublin from November 26th – December 8th as part of the preparations for the Congress. Based at Saint Mary’s Pro-Cathedral in the city centre the ESM were warmly welcomed by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin and the priests of the diocese as we took on the primary mission activity of Street Evangelisation engaging with the people in the busy shopping districts of the city through conversation, music and drama. A daily programme of events was organised at the Pro-Cathedral as well as a significant youth programme which included evangelisation initiatives in second and third level colleges. A podcast of an interview on the Rojo in the Morning programme on Spirit Radio, an article in the Irish Catholic ‘Answering the Call to Mission’ and a short video about our visit to DCU give a flavour of the city mission.
All the students here at ESM were delighted to recently welcome Fr Kevin Doran (Secretary General of IEC2012) who visited the school to update us on preparations for the Congress with less than 100 days to go. Fr Kevin explained the the context for a Eucharistic Congress in the Church and the significance of IEC2012 in Dublin for the Irish Church. He described the planned programme of events for IEC2012 including the impressive Youth Programme ‘Go! Be Church’ which will take place in a dedicated ‘Chiara Luce’ Youth Space and also gave us a cathechises and background on the icons which accompany the Eucharistic Congress Bell on pilgrimage. The students were excited to hear about the plans for the Congress and our involvement and were very grateful for Fr Kevin’s encouragement in our ongoing work of evangelisation and mission. ESM Rome will spend two weeks in the Dublin Diocese at the time of the Eucharistic Congress in June. Assisted by the Emmanuel Community in Ireland we will firstly facilitate a parish mission prior to the IEC, followed by a programme of evangelisation on the streets during the week of the Congress which will hopefully highlight awareness of the Congress in the City. And we’re are very much looking forward to it!
