The next International Eucharistic Congress will be in Sydney, Australia

16 September 2024 at 09:26 am

The next location of the International Eucharistic Congress will be Sydney, Australia. This was announced yesterday (15) at the closing ceremony of the 53rd International Eucharistic Congress in Quito, Ecuador.

The Mass was celebrated by Cardinal Baltazar Porras, Archbishop Emeritus of Caracas, Venezuela, Pontifical Successor to the International Eucharistic Congress.

At the end of the ceremony, Cardinal Porras said: “In the name and by order of Pope Francis, I announce to you that the 54th International Eucharistic Congress will take place in the city of Sydney, Australia, in 2028.”

Sydney hosted the 29th International Eucharistic Congress in 1928.

The role of the Eucharist in the emerging church in Sydney

In a video shown at the event, the Archbishop of Sydney, Dom Anthony Fisher, said he was “delighted to invite you all to our harbour city in 2028, 100 years after Sydney last hosted this great event”.

“The story of the Catholic faith in Sydney is, in many ways, the story of the power of the Eucharist in building the Church of God from humble beginnings,” the Bishop said. “Early in the colonial period in our city, at a time when there was no clergy and Catholic worship was forbidden, it was the Blessed Sacrament contained in an ambula in a layman’s home that supported the faithful,” he said.

The host, Bishop Fisher said, was left by Father Jeremiah O’Flynn “before his exile” and “served as the nucleus of our first Catholic community.”

“There, in a small room of an ordinary house, men, women and children gathered to worship the presence of God.”

“A great occasion of grace”

The Auxiliary Bishop of Sydney, Dom Danny Meagher, told EWTN’s Spanish language agency ACI Prensa that “life in the Church in Sydney needs to flourish.”

“Archbishop Anthony Fisher, recognising the significance of the International Eucharistic Congress, hopes it will be a great success, not only for Sydney and Australia, but for all who attend.”

“We hope that this will be a great opportunity for grace for all the participants, so that they return home with a true sense of grace, having been transformed by what they learned,” Bishop Meagher said.

“The challenge for us is to organize a very good International Eucharistic Congress,” the bishop said. “I will measure success if we manage to touch people’s hearts and open their minds to the richness of the Eucharist, to enter into God,” the bishop added.

“Christ gives us his life, introduces us to his Paschal mystery and sends us into the world. Through quality productions that touch the mind with good theology, and also engage the heart and soul through good liturgy and entertainment, we really want to engage people,” Bishop Meagher said.