Date, theme of IEC in Cebu confirmed

CEBU, Philippines - The Church has confirmed Pope Francis’ approval of the date and theme of the 51st International Eucharistic Congress (IEC) to be held in Cebu City in 2016.

Cebu Archdiocese spokesman Msgr. Achilles Dakay confirmed that the IEC will be held from January 25 to 31 under the theme “Christ in you, our hope of glory”, taken from the Letter of St. Paul to the Colossians.

“Yes, the Pope has approved on the date and theme of the International Eucharistic Congress, but as to his coming, it still needs to be confirmed and reconfirmed due to the sudden changes of schedule of the Pope that might happen,” Dakay said.

The Pontifical Commission for the IEC stated that they were informed by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican Secretary of State, on the Pope’s approval, as reported the Zenit news agency’s website.

Zenit is an international, non-profit news agency that reports on the Pope’s activities and interviews on the men and women of the Church as well as international current events.

It was Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI who announces that the Philippines will be the next venue for the congress during a video message at the conclusion of the Eucharistic Congress held in Dublin in June of last year. In the said video, he invited everybody to join him in praying for God’s blessing upon the next IEC, in Cebu City by 2016.

“To the people of the Philippines I send warm greetings and an assurance of my closeness in prayer during the period of preparation for this great ecclesial gathering. I am confident that it will bring lasting spiritual renewal not only to them but to all the participants from across the globe,” he said.

The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, according to the website, said that the congress will deepen Eucharistic devotion in the country.

At the same time, it will also be a preparation for the 500th anniversary of the evangelization in the Philippines.

Earlier, CBCP president and Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma raised the possibility of the Pope’s coming to the IEC, after the Vatican asked to reschedule the IEC earlier in consideration of the Pope’s schedule.

Palma believes this definitely means that the latter is interested to come in Cebu. But as of the moment, there is no confirmation from the Pope yet.

Meanwhile, the Pontifical Commission for IEC, as stated in the Zenit website, said that the celebration of the 51st IEC in the Philippines is an important challenge to strengthen the missionary or evangelizing perspective as well as for identifying new ways in celebrating the Congresses themselves.   (FREEMAN)