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In theCatholic Church, aEucharistic congress is a gathering ofclergy,religious, andlaity tobear witness to thereal presence ofJesus in theEucharist, which isan important Catholic doctrine. Congresses bring together people from a wide area, and typically involve large open-airMasses,Eucharistic adoration (Blessed Sacrament), and other devotional ceremonies held over several days. Congresses may both refer to National (varies by country) and International Eucharistic Congresses.
On 28 November 1897,Pope Leo XIII proclaimed SaintPaschal Baylón patron of Eucharistic Congresses and Associations.[1]
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The first International Eucharistic Congress owed its inspiration to BishopGaston de Ségur, and was held atLille,France, on June 21, 1881. The initial inspiration behind the idea came from the laywomanMarie-Marthe-Baptistine Tamisier (1834–1910) who spent a decade lobbying clergy. The sixth congress met in Paris in 1888, and the great memorialChurch of the Sacred Heart on Montmartre was the center of the proceedings.Antwerp hosted the next congress in 1890, at which an immensealtar of repose was erected in the Place de Meir, and an estimated 150,000 persons gathered around it whenCardinal Goossens, Archbishop ofMechelen, gave the solemnbenediction. Bishop Doutreloux of Liège was then president of the Permanent Committee for the Organization of Eucharistic Congresses, the body which has charge of the details of these meetings. Of special importance also was the eighth congress, held inJerusalem in 1893, as it was the first congress held outside Europe.
In 1907, the congress was held inMetz,Lorraine, and the German government suspended the law of 1870 (which forbadeprocessions) in order that the usual solemn procession of the Blessed Sacrament might be held. Each year the congress had become more and more international in nature, and at the invitation of Archbishop Bourne of Westminster the nineteenth congress was held inLondon, the first amongEnglish-speaking members of the Church. The presidents of the Permanent Committee of the International Eucharistic Congresses, under whose direction all this progress was made, were:
After each congress this committee prepared and published a volume giving a report of all the papers read and the discussions on them in the various sections of the meeting, the sermons preached, the addresses made at the public meetings, and the details of all that transpired.
| Num. | Date | Location | Theme | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 1881 Jun |  Lille | The Eucharist Saves the World | |
| 2nd | 1882 Sep | Avignon | ||
| 3rd | 1883 Jun |  Liège | ||
| 4th | 1885 Sep |  Fribourg | ||
| 5th | 1887 Jun | Toulouse | ||
| 6th | 1888 Jul | Paris | ||
| 7th | 1890 Aug | Antwerp | ||
| 8th | 1893 May |  Jerusalem | The Divine Mystery of the Eucharist | First congress held outside Europe. Attended by hundreds of Latin Rite and Eastern Rite Patriarchs, bishops, priests, and faithful. |
| 9th | 1894 Jul | Reims | ||
| 10th | 1897 Sep | Paray-le-Monial | ||
| 11th | 1898 Jul | Brussels | ||
| 12th | 1899 Aug | Lourdes | ||
| 13th | 1901 Sep | Angers | ||
| 14th | 1902 Sep | Namur | ||
| 15th | 1904 Jun | Angoulême | ||
| 16th | 1905 Jun |  Rome | ||
| 17th | 1906 Aug | Tournai | ||
| 18th | 1907 Aug |  Metz | ||
| 19th | 1908 Sep |  London | First Congress held in the English-speaking world. | |
| 20th | 1909 Aug | Cologne | ||
| 21st | 1910 Sep 7–11 |  Montreal | First Congress held inNorth America or theWestern Hemisphere. | |
| 22nd | 1911 Jul |  Madrid | ||
| 23rd | 1912 Sep 12–15 |  Vienna | ||
| 24th | 1913 Apr 23–27 |  Malta | ||
| 25th | 1914 Jul 22–25 | Lourdes | The Eucharist and the Social Reign of Jesus Christ | Cardinal G. Pignatelli of Belmonte was thepapal legate. |
| 26th | 1922 May 24–29 | Rome | The Peaceful Reign of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Eucharist | Pope Pius XI officiated the Mass at theSt. Peter's Square; first congress after World War I. |
| 27th | 1924 Jul 22–27 |  Amsterdam | The Eucharist and Holland | Cardinal Van Rossum was thepapal legate. |
| 28th | 1926 Jun 20–24 |  Chicago | First congress in the United States.Papal legate:Cardinal Bonzano. Hosted byCardinal Mundelein,Archbishop of Chicago. Est worshippers: 500,000 atSoldier Field mass, 1 million atSt. Mary of the Lake closing mass. | |
| 29th | 1928 Sep 6–9 |  Sydney | First congress in Australia. The procession of the Eucharist, headed by the papal legateCardinal Cerretti, was witnessed by 500,000.[2] | |
| 30th | 1930 May 7–11 |  Carthage | The Eucharist is Africa's testimony | First congress held in Africa. |
| 31st | 1932 Jun 22–26 |  Dublin | The Propagation of the Sainted Eucharist by Irish Missionaries | 1500th anniversary ofSaint Patrick's arrival in Ireland. Catholic population of Ireland in 1932 was 3 million.[3] |
| 32nd | 1934 Oct 10–14 |  Buenos Aires | First congress inSouth America.Papal legate CardinalPacelli (laterPope Pius XII).[4] Over one million people aroundTres de Febrero Park heard a radio broadcast from the pope inVatican City. Cardinal Pacelli celebrated High Mass and pronounced apostolic blessing on participants.[5] | |
| 33rd | 1937 Feb 3–7 |  Manila | Jesus in the Eucharist, Bread of Angels, Bread of Life | First congress inAsia and in thePhilippines. Attended by 1.5 million from around the world. Pontifical Masses inRizal Park, with hundreds of thousands at each.[6] |
| 34th | 1938 May 25–30 |  Budapest | Eucharist, the Bond of Love | Papal legate Cardinal Pacelli (laterPope Pius XII).[7] Over 100,000 people from all over the world, including 15 cardinals and 330 bishops.[8] |
| 35th | 1952May 27-Jun 1 |  Barcelona | Peace | First congress since the end ofWorld War II. Attended by hundreds of bishops and church officials, including CardinalSpellman of New York, and CardinalStritch of Chicago. TheCold War limited attendance from communist eastern European countries.[9] |
| 36th | 1955 Jul 17–24 |  Rio de Janeiro | Christ the Redeemer and His Eucharistic Kingdom[10] | |
| 37th | 1960Jul 31–Aug 7 |  Munich | City chosen byPope Pius XII, who had beenpapal nuncio there. Attended by 430 bishops and 28 cardinals, including CardinalSpellman of New York, CardinalCushing of Boston, and CardinalMeyer of Chicago. Laid a foundation stone for a "church of atonement" nearDachau concentration camp. Closing Statio Orbis Mass celebrated onTheresienwiese Square.[11][12] | |
| 38th | 1964 Nov 12–15 |  Bombay | First congress in a country without a significant Christian population, aiming to disseminate the doctrine of the "real presence of Christ in the Eucharist." Attended byPope Paul VI, many cardinals, and 20,000 foreign visitors.[13] | |
| 39th | 1968 Aug 18–25 |  Bogotá | The Eucharist as the Bond of Love | Bogota DC was chosen personally byPope Paul VI, to host the 39th International Eucharistic Congress, following his visit to the Colombian capital. This was the third Congress ever held in a Spanish speaking country, and the first Congress held in Colombia. The Eucharistic Congress was attended by bishops, archbishops, cardinals, clergy members, andfaithful from all over Latin America and the World, including the Archpishop of BogotaLuis Concha Cordoba, the Colombian CardinalAlfonso López Trujillo,Pope Paul VI, the Archbishop of Buenos AiresJuan Carlos Aramburu, the Archbishop of ParisFrançois Marty, ArchbishopCarroll of Miami, and ArchbishopDearden of Detroit (USA). The Congress was focused on the renovation of the Catholic Church worldwide, but particularly that of Colombia, which was a country seeing great economic and social prosperity due to its economic boom in the mid 20th century. Colombia was a country that demonstrated the great social and economic changes to global societies, as Colombia strived industrialized and modern society, and it was with this in mind, that it was chosen to be the seat of the 1968 International Eucharistic Congress. |
| 40th | 1973 Feb 18–25 | Melbourne | "Love one another as I have loved you!"[14][15] | |
| 41st | 1976 Aug 1–8 | Philadelphia | Hungers of the Human Family | Attended by 1,500,000 people, including 44 Cardinals and 417 bishops.[16] Theme: "The Eucharist and the Hungers of the Human Family" (physical and spiritual hungers).[17]Mother Teresa andDorothy Day were panelists at a conference on Women and the Eucharist.[18] FuturePope John Paul II gave the homily for Freedom and Justice.[19] US PresidentFord spoke of freedom and the Church's work for peace.[20][21][22] |
| 42nd | 1981 Jul 16–23 |  Lourdes | "Jesus Christ, bread broken for a new world" | Organization:Henri Donze, Bishop of Lourdes;papal legate CardinalBernardin Gantin. Great number of young people, fromThird World. Procession with candles successful.[23] This was the third time the congress was held at Lourdes.[24] |
| 43rd | 1985 Aug 11–18 |  Nairobi | The Eucharist and the Christian Family | Attended byPope John Paul II.[25] |
| 44th | 1989 Oct 4–8 |  Seoul | Christ is our Peace | As he did four years prior, Pope John Paul II attended the congress, holding theSolemn Mass entirely in Korean on the final day. The two principal objectives were: promoting a deeper understanding of the Eucharist; and living the eucharistic faith in the reality of our world. Attendance was reported to be around 1 million.[26] |
| 45th | 1993 Jun 7–13 |  Seville | Christ Light of Nations | The first post-Cold War congress,Pope John Paul II addressed the congress and declared, "I hope the fruit of this congress results in the establishment of perpetual Eucharistic adoration in all parishes and Christian communities throughout the world."[27] |
| 46th | 1997May 25–Jun 1 |  Wrocław | Freedom as Reflected in the Eucharist | Attended byPope John Paul II.[28] The congress addressed the distinction between "freedom" and "liberty".[29][30] |
| 47th | 2000 Jun 18–25 |  Rome | The third to be celebrated inRome, the congress was the first of its kind to be celebrated in aJubilee Year. | |
| 48th | 2004 Oct 10–17 |  Guadalajara | Pope John Paul II, being too ill to attend, namedCardinal Josef Tomko asPapal Legate. The Congress ended with a celebration of the Mass in theJalisco Stadium in Guadalajara, with a live link up to a simultaneous Mass celebrated inSt. Peter's Basilica inRome, celebrated in the presence of Pope John Paul II. These simultaneous Masses marked the beginning of theYear of the Eucharist which ran from the International Eucharistic Congress to theGeneral Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in October 2005.[citation needed] | |
| 49th | 2008 Jun 15–22 |  Quebec City | The Eucharist, Gift of God for the Life of the World[31] | This congress coincided with the 400th anniversary of the city's founding.[31] The closing celebration took place on thePlains of Abraham, attended by tens of thousands of pilgrims.[32]Pope Benedict XVI's message was broadcast live, in both French and English, from theApostolic Palace in theVatican, via giant screens set up on the meadow.[32] The Pope announced the next Congress was to take place in Dublin, Ireland, in 2012. |
| 50th | 2012 Jun 10–17 | Dublin | The Eucharist: Communion with Christ and with one another (drawn from Lumen gentium) | The congress coincided with the 50th anniversary of the inauguration of theSecond Vatican Council.[33] In addition to the daily celebration of the Eucharist, there were over thirty workshops and presentations daily on various themes associated with the Eucharist. For many years, the Church has failed to respond appropriately to child abuse by clergy.[according to whom?] The blessing of a Healing Stone by ArchbishopDiarmuid Martin, as well as a personal meeting between the Papal Legate, CardinalMarc Ouellet, and survivors of clergy sexual abuse, were among the ways in which the issue was addressed.[34] The Pope delivered a pre-recorded address to the closing ceremony on June 17. |
| 51st | 2016 Jan 24–31 |  Cebu City | Christ in You, Our Hope of Glory (From the Letter of St. Paul to the Colossians) | The second time in thePhilippines, includingManila in 1937.Pope Francis appointed the first Cardinal ofMyanmar CardinalCharles Maung Bo as thePapal Legate.[37] |
| 52nd | 2021 Sep 5–12 |  Budapest | "In You (=in Eucharistic Jesus) is the source of all our blessings." (Cfr.: Ps 87, 7) | Originally scheduled to take place in September 2020, it was postponed a year due to theCOVID-19 pandemic. This was the second time Hungary hosted after 1938.Pope Francis performed a mass atHeroes Square,Budapest.[38][39] |
| 53rd | 2024 Sep 8–15 |  Quito | Fraternity to Heal the World | This was in the first Andean country to host the event. It coincided with the 150th anniversary of the consecration of Ecuador to theSacred Heart of Jesus made in 1874 by PresidentGabriel García Moreno and supported by PopePius IX.[40] |
| 54th | 2028 | Sydney | It’s the first time the event is being held in Australia since Melbourne hosted in 1973, and the second time in Sydney since 1928, that just coincides with the centenary of the first international eucharistic congress held in these city, and the most largest ecumenical event since theWorld Youth Day 2008.[41][42] |
| Num. | Date | Location | Theme | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 1895 Oct 2–3 | Washington, DC | Held atSt. Patrick's Church, the oldest Catholic church in Washington, DC, and atCatholic University, then only 8 years old. Twenty-five archbishops and bishops attended, most prominentlyJames Cardinal Gibbon, theArchbishop of Baltimore along with some 250 priests, most fromFr. Peter Julian Eymard'sPriests' Eucharistic League, and most from the Eastern United States.[44] | |
| 2nd | 1901 Oct 8–10 | St. Louis, MO | Held atSt. Francis Xavier, the college church forSt. Louis University, some 15 bishops and 600 priests from thePriests' Eucharistic League attended.[45] | |
| 3rd | 1904 Sep 27–29 | New York, NY | Held atSt. Patrick's Cathedral. ArchbishopJohn M. Farley ofNew York hosted the event.[46] | |
| 4th | 1907 Oct 15–17 | Pittsburgh, PA | Held in theCathedral of St. Paul.[47] | |
| 5th | 1911 Sept 28-Oct 1 | Cincinnati, OH | Held atSt. Peter's Cathedral. ArchbishopHenry K. Moeller ofCincinnati hosted the event.[48] | |
| 6th | 1930 Sep 23–25 | Omaha, NE | The Congress was held at a number of different locations in Omaha, including the cathedral,St. Cecilia's andCreighton University. A number of newsreel companies were on hand to film the event. BishopJoseph Rummel ofOmaha hosted the event.[49] | |
| 7th | 1935 Sep 23–26 | Cleveland, OH | The Holy Eucharist, The Source and Inspiration of Catholic Action | 500,000 Catholics from around the nation attended. The final Mass, inCleveland Municipal Stadium drew 125,000. Speakers includedFulton J. Sheen, andAlfred E. Smith, the first Catholic major party presidential candidate.Pope Pius XI addressed the Congress by radio.[50] |
| 8th | 1938 Oct 17–20 | New Orleans, LA | Held inCity Park Stadium.Chicago'sGeorge Cardinal Mundelein, served as a specialPapal legate for the Congress. TheGoodyear Blimp broadcast sermons, music and the rosary over special loudspeakers along the route for the final procession. Over radio,Pope Pius XI opened the Congress with a five minute address and closed it with a special blessing fromCastel Gandolfo.[51] | |
| 9th | 1941 Jun 22–26 | St. Paul, MN | Our Eucharistic Lord Glorified by Sacrifice | Held at the fairgrounds for theMinnesota State Fair. About 150 bishops from across the United States attended.[52] |
| 10th | 2024 Jul 17–21 | Indianapolis, IN | Revival Happens Here | Held in theIndianapolis Colt'sLucas Oil Stadium.[53] About 50,000 people attended, among whom were 1,500 Catholicpriests. |
