The 50th International Eucharistic Congress (IEC2012) will feature the unveiling of a Healing Stone during the Opening Ceremony in the RDS on 10 June as a means of acknowledging the abuse of children.

The Healing Stone comprises a large, shaped piece of Wicklow granite which is engraved with a prayer composed by a survivor of clerical abuse.  The prayer was originally featured in the Liturgy of Lament celebrated in Dublin’s Pro-Cathedral in 2011.

Work on the Healing Stone project began in early 2012.  Following consultation with various people, including abuse survivors, it was agreed that the stone would be an appropriate symbol for the Congress.

Fr Kevin Doran, Secretary General of IEC2012, said: “Stone speaks of permanence.  To say something is ‘carved in stone’ is to say that it is here to stay rather than just a passing thought.  The stone represents the firm determination to work for healing and renewal.

“In our Christian tradition, the stone which covered the tomb of Jesus, symbolises both the end of His earthly existence and the fact of His Resurrection.  We are conscious of the fact that, for many who have experienced abuse, either themselves or to a member of their family, the pain of abuse can sometimes be like a stone weighing heavily on them.  It is a stone that, in some way or other needs to be rolled back so that they can be set free.”  Fr Doran added: “It is planned that after the Congress, the Stone will be given a more permanent home on an accessible site, where people can pause and pray, and so that there will be a permanent public reminder of our need never to take safeguarding for granted.”

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Further information:
•    Aisling Harmey, Media Relations Manager, 50th International Eucharistic Congress 2012, Tel: 00353 (01) 234 9903    Mob: 00353 (0) 87 137 2447,  Email: press@iec2012.ie
•    Aoife Connors, Media Officer, 50th International Eucharistic Congress 2012, Tel: 00353 (01) 234 9940    Mob: 00353 (0) 87 628 0580,   Email: pressofficer@iec2012.ie

Notes for Editors:
•    The 50th International Eucharistic Congress 2012 will take place in Dublin from 10 – 17 June 2012 with up to 25,000 pilgrims expected to attend each day at the RDS, including 12,000 international pilgrims representing more than 99 different countries.
•    IEC2012 will transform the RDS into a Eucharistic Village for an eight day festival of faith and culture. The Eucharist will be celebrated in the Liturgy and adored in the Prayer Space.
•    The Congress is an international gathering of people, every four years somewhere in the world, which aims to promote an awareness of the central place of the Eucharist in the life and mission of the Catholic Church; to help improve our understanding and celebration of the liturgy and to draw attention to the social dimension of the Eucharist. These aims are achieved through a programme of pastoral preparation in the years leading up to the Congress and a programme of liturgical and cultural events, lectures and workshops over the course of one week.  Previous Congresses took place in Quebec (2008) and Guadalajara (2004)
•    The theme of the Congress is ‘The Eucharist: Communion with Christ and with one Another’ (Communion – like Solidarity – means a relationship of mutual love and self-giving).
•    On 17 June, more than 80,000 people are expected to gather and celebrate Statio Orbis, the Final Mass, of the 50th International Eucharistic Congress 2012 at Croke Park Stadium.
•    There will be 18 keynote addresses by international speakers.
•    22 Keynote Speakers will deliver Catechesis (teaching), personal testimonies, homilies and addresses.
•    160 Workshops including talks, addresses, group reflections, meetings, concerts and plays
•    6 keynote speakers will lead a parallel programme for 18-25 years olds during the week
•    The full programme is available at: http://www.iec2012.ie/programme
•    For more information: www.iec2012.ie
•    Registration for the Congress is now live on http://www.iec2012.ie/registration

“Easter Week 1916 set the Irish people on a new path. Not everything that has happened since has been glorious but because of that unexpected, and initially unpromising, rendezvous with destiny, we have been able to chart our own distinctive course as a free people…”

In the long story that is the history of the Irish people there have been many defining moments. Occasions when in the words of the American President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt “we have had a rendezvous with destiny.”

In our recent history some of these moments have been:

• The 1798 Rebellion, which despite being a military failure, showed us a new way of organising society, a way which promised greater respect and regard for the dignity and freedom of the individual.
• The Great Famine of the 1840’s which decimated our people but created an Irish Diaspora which continues to define us at home and abroad.
• And of course, 1916, a week which proved to be the catalyst for so much that has happened to us subsequently as a people.

Like 1798 a military failure, but a week which set our country on a new trajectory.

The prevailing view of Ireland at the time was encapsulated in a remark made to the Duke of Rutland in 1784 “Ireland is too great to be unconnected with us, and too near to be dependent on a foreign state, and too little to be independent.’’

The men and women of 1916 refused to accept this analysis.

Writing of the Rising in 1966 Dr Garrett Fitzgerald noted that “it was planned by men who feared that without a dramatic gesture of this kind the sense of national identity that had survived all the hazards of the centuries would flicker out ignominiously within their lifetime, leaving Ireland psychologically as well as legally…  an integral part of the United Kingdom.”

1916, heroic, but doomed to fail allowed us to dream again, to imagine in the words of George Bernard Shaw “things that never were and say why not?”

The men and women of the Rising paid a high price to give us that gift, that is why we remember them, that is why we celebrate their idealism, vision and courage.

In the words of Yeats those seven days of Easter “changed everything and a terrible beauty was born.”  The beauty of being free, the beauty to imagine and do new things.

The words of President Higgins recently in New York are also apposite in relation to 1916. Reflecting on the effects of the Famine he reminded us that “in transience an enormous creativity happens.”

The transience of Easter Week, tragic and futile as it appeared at the time, released a great creativity, a great energy, in the words of Garrett Fitzgerald, “1916 was an event of enormous emotional power.”

At the present time we are working our way through another sort of transience. We hope and pray that this too, despite its pain and confusion, will in its own time and its own way release a new age of creativity, and lead to a renewal of the national spirit.

The men and women of 1916 dreamed of a social order which recognised and promoted the material needs of people but they also understood that in the words of Scripture “man does not live on bread alone.”

The 1916 Proclamation is explicit in its recognition of the Transcendent. It begins “In the name of God” and it finishes by saying “We place the cause of the Irish Republic under the protection of the most High God.”

I believe that the rest of the 20th century provided enough evidence to show that when societies are not underpinned by a sense of the transcendent, however beguiling materially, life can become soul-destroying, repressive and dehumanising.

Religion, despite sometimes falling spectacularly short of its ideals, gives expression to the spiritual side of our human nature, the side which calls us to look above and beyond, the side which challenges us to be more than we think we can be.

1916 was a very public event, played out mainly on the streets of Dublin, though I have to say that in the spirit of ’98 rebels turned out in Enniscorthy too, and for four days the tricolour flew defiantly over the town until Padraig Pearse himself ordered the rebel surrender.

We sometimes forget that public people, like the people who led the 1916 Rising, are also private people, sons, daughters, fathers, sisters, husbands. We are so used to seeing them in their public role we can be blind to the fact that off stage, as it were, they loved and were loved, belonged to, and are still missed by their families.

The English poet Philip Larkin explores this public/private dichotomy in his poem “An Arundel Tomb.”

He was looking at the tombs of people who had been buried in Chichester Cathedral. One caught his attention, it was the tomb of the Earl of Arundel and his wife Eleanor.
Their effigies were carved in stone, lying side by side, each wore one glove but their other hands were ungloved, and lightly touching. Larkin found this simple gesture of affection very moving.

It had obviously been carefully planned as an expression of the love the couple had for each other.

The poet used the scene to reflect on fame, mortality and the limits of earthly love. The opening lines of the poem go;

“Side by side their faces blurred, the Earl and Countess lie in stone.” The last line says simply “what will survive of us is love.”

There is a great deal of Christian theology and belief in that short sentence, it echoes St John saying ” God is Love”,  St John of the Cross saying “in the evening of our lives we shall be judged on love” and the Song of Songs proclaiming “Love is stronger than death.”

The men and women of 1916 are gone from us physically but in the words of the poet, their love survives and lives on, their love of country, their love of freedom, their determination to keep alive the national spirit.

1916 has been transformational, it has changed our country, it has changed us. As we remember the people of 1916 we are changed by that remembering, in that sense they are still touching us, still inspiring us.

On this 96th anniversary we thank God for the gift of their lives – mindful as ever of the words of Scripture – “the life and death of each of us has its influence on others.”

This is true of every human being but given the pivotal role played by the men and woman of 1916 in the history of our country the words take on an added significance.

Easter Week 1916 set the Irish people on a new path. Not everything that has happened since has been glorious but because of that unexpected, and initially unpromising, rendezvous with destiny, we have been able to chart our own distinctive course as a free people.

The journey goes on, we are still writing our story, trying to make real the promise and the dream of the Rising.

Today we remember in gratitude the small handful of people who gave us the confidence to realise that we had, and still have, a story to tell and a contribution to make.

Ar dheis De go raibh siad.

Media contact: Communications Office, Director Fr. John Carroll
Phone: (053) 9122177, Mobile: 0879898424, Email jc@ferns.ie

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Feature Article

What a Day at the Eucharistic Congress will look like (pdf)

What a Day at the Eucharistic Congress will look like

So we are just a month away from the 50^th International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin and at this stage you might be wondering what an actual day at the Congress will be like.

The daily programme for the 50th International Eucharistic Congress from 11th until 16th June 2012 will take place in the Royal Dublin Society (RDS).  The Statio Orbis, the Liturgy on the final day of the 50th International Eucharistic Congress, will be celebrated in Croke Park, Dublin on Sunday 17th June 2012.

The Programme of the 50^th International Eucharistic Congress is built around the daily celebration of the Eucharist and each day has a theme of its own, related to the main Congress theme The Eucharist: Communion with Christ and with one another.

The main events of the programme take place in the RDS Arena. On most days these will be in the afternoon and will include:

• The Catechesis: a “teaching” moment, usually presented by a bishop, reflecting on the theme of the day and its challenges
• The Testimony: words of encouragement and inspiration from a lay-person with a story of faith to tell
• Celebration of the Eucharist: Mass celebrated with all the Congress delegates, presided over by a bishop]

For the purposes of illustrating a day ay the Congress I have decided to focus in on Tuesday 12 June.

The theme of the day is Exploring and Celebrating the Communion of Marriage and Family so Tuesday is Family Day. The day will begin with Morning Prayer at 9.00am with Cardinal Keith O’Brien, Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, Scotland in the Prayer Space or there is prayer in the Chiara Luce Youth Space at 9.30am with Bishop Franz Lackner from Austria.

In the morning the workshops and presentations offer a wide variety of themes and choice: Faith of Our Grandparents, Spirituality for Married Couples with Teams of Our Lady, Do this in Memory, Communion and Co-responsibility: coming to life in pastoral practice, The Eucharistic Liturgy, Catechesis of the Good Shepherd and much more. There will also be a musical performed by KISI-KIDS on the subject of Paul, called by God.

There will be an opportunity to see a Radharc film on the topic of Vatican II – A Council in the likeness of Pope John.  Ger Gallagher from the Office of Evangelisation in the Archdiocese of Dublin will deliver a workshop on the question ‘Where is the Young Adult Church today?’

Workshops and presentations continue throughout the morning with a choice of Religious Music for Children, Another Radharc film on the 1932 Congress, Liturgy that breathes, Blessings and Prayers in Family Life, The Changing Irish Family; for better or worse? And much more.

At 2.00pm the focus moves to the main arena in the RDS for Catechesis with Archbishop Barry Hickey, Archbishop of Perth on the theme God as Loving Communion. Personal testimony will be offered by Mr Carl Anderson, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbanus on the theme of the day Exploring and Celebrating the Communion of Marriage and Family. At 4.00pm there will be celebration of the Eucharist and His Eminence André Cardinal Vingt Trois, Archbishop of Paris will preside.

The music programme for the Congress encourages everyone in the congregation to participate as much as possible in the liturgies during the week. Congregational singing is a key component in this. Particular emphasis is placed on the celebration of the Eucharist and the singing of the various parts of the Mass. These have been chosen from the anthology: Sing the Mass [Veritas 2011] produced on behalf of the National Centre for Liturgy and the Advisory Committee on Church Music.  The music reflects the repertoire of both the local and the universal church so that together we can give praise and thanks to God.

After the celebration of Eucharist there will be some free time to browse the exhibition and cultural spaces in the RDS and to meet and greet others from Ireland and across the World.

In the evening there will be workshops and presentations on themes such as: Sharing Faith with the next generation, Evangelisation and Church Art and Matrimony: Renewing Our Dream for Each Other. There will be an opportunity to see another Radharc Film called The French Connection. Mr John Waters, Journalist, Author and Commentator will give a talk on Finding my Religion and ACCORD Catholic Marriage Care Service will offer a workshop as will the Divine Mercy Apostolate.

Alongside the programme in the Arena, there is a full programme of workshops and cultural events. In addition there is the Youth Space which has its own dedicated programme, details of which are available on www.iec2012.ie.

You can book to attend the 50th Congress International Congress for seven days, three days or one day. See www.iec2012.ie for more information on the week-long programme and for booking details.

Join us at the 50^th International Eucharistic Congress in the RDS and Croke Park and be part of this momentous occasion in Ireland in 2012!

Brenda Drumm

Intercom

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Similar to World Youth Day it will incorporate prayer, catechesis (reflection on faith) led by Archbishop Martin and an opportunity for a time of questions on matters of faith. Young people aged 16+ are being invited from parishes, prayer movements. Everyone is being invited to “like” Good News to Go! on Facebook. This particular site will provide a mechenism of reaching out to young people in the Archdiocese. Reflections on faith, prayer and events will regularly be posted, inviting young people to gather at this years International Eucharistic Congress. It is intended that Good News to Go will resume again in September, helping to provide regular gatherings of young people who want to learn more about their faith, with their peers. Throughout the summer, young people who will attend faith based events will be invited to participate in GNTG. Young people heading to Lourdes with the Archdiocese in September will also be invited to Good News to Go!Young people have been invited by Archbishop Martin to gather with him on Thursday evening in St. Teresa’s Church, Clarendon St, Dublin 2 @7:30 pm.

View the poster for Good News to Go here.

Pope Benedict XVI rings and blesses the IEC Bell in Rome

Presentation of the 50th International Eucharistic Congress

“The Eucharist: Communion with Christ and with one another” is the theme of the 50th International Eucharistic Congress, due to be held in the Irish capital Dublin from 10 to 17 June. The initiative was presented this morning in the Holy See Press Office by Archbishop Piero Marini, president of the Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses; Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin, and Fr. Vittore Boccardi S.S.S. of the secretariat of the Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses.

“The Roman Ritual ‘De sacra Communione et de cultu mysterii eucharistici extra Missam’ establishes what an International Eucharistic Congress actually is”, Archbishop Marini explained. That document, “enacting the principles of Vatican Council II, defines the Congress as a ‘statio orbis’; in other words, a ‘a pause for commitment and prayer to which a particular community invites the universal Church’. During that time the celebration of the Eucharist becomes the centre and vertex of all forms of piety, … of theological and pastoral reflections, of social commitment.”

“By a noteworthy coincidence”, the archbishop went on, “the fiftieth International Eucharistic Congress of Dublin coincides with the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of Vatican Council II; and it is to the Council that the Congress will refer because the theme chosen – ‘The Eucharist: Communion with Christ and with one another’ – has been taken from paragraph 7 of the Dogmatic Constitution Lumen gentium. That theme reminds the baptised that it is by participating in the Eucharist that we construct communion with Christ and, at the same time, with one another; in other words, the most authentic face of the Church. … Progressive emphasis on the ecclesiology of communion ‘according to which the Eucharist has a causal influence at the very origins of the Church’, is replete with pastoral, ecclesial and ecumenical consequences, which will be studied in Dublin at a theological symposium to be held before the Congress.”

Archbishop Marini explained that the event will be attended by thousands of faithful from all over the world who, apart from celebrating the Eucharist together, will pray and participate in a number of processions, eighteen general conferences and 150 workshops and discussion groups, examining important religious themes and experiencing “authentic ecclesial solidarity”.

For his part Archbishop Martin recalled that Dublin had also hosted the thirty-first International Eucharistic Congress in 1932. “The Church in Ireland in 1932 was very different to the Church in Ireland today”, he said. “The Eucharistic Congress must address its participants in the context of the culture in which they live.” In 2012 it must “reflect and present the Church in Ireland, a Church which has faced and continues to face enormous challenges, but a Church which is alive, energetic and anxious to start a journey of renewal.

“There are divisions within the Irish Church”, he added, “sometimes unhealthy divisions. I believe it is helpful to look back to 1932 and to Irish society of the time, which less than a decade previously had been lacerated by a harsh civil war lasting two years. It is a fact of great honour to my predecessor Archbishop Edward Byrne that he celebrated the Congress as a moment of reconciliation and rediscovered unity. For the first time in the newly independent Ireland, men and woman on both sides of a bitter divide met to work together on a shared project. The Eucharist has the power to reconcile. Communion with Christ nourishes communion and reconciliation with others.”

Archbishop Martin went on: “The fiftieth International Eucharistic Congress of Dublin will again be a moment of renewal and reconciliation; an event reawakening awareness among all Catholics of the central place of the Eucharist in the life of the Church, the true summit to which all Church activities strive, the source whence all Church life pours forth.” The Congress will remind the Church in Ireland “of the centrality of spiritual renewal and of the significance of the Church as the Body of Christ”, he said.

The archbishop of Dublin also announced that the Congress will have an ecumenical aspect, with the participation of other Christian Churches in Ireland. The event will conclude in Croke Park on 17 June with a Mass celebrated by Cardinal Marc Ouellet P.S.S., prefect of the Congregation for Bishops and pontifical delegate to the Congress. During the Mass a televised message from the Pope will be broadcast.

Father Ciaran O’Carroll, the Rector of the Pontifical Irish College, Rome, has announced that Father Albert McDonnell, Vice Rector of the College, Father Billy Swan, Director of Formation, and Father Chris Hayden, College Spiritual Director will return to their respective dioceses at the conclusion of this academic year, where upon they will undertake new appointments.  The Trustees of the Irish College, (the four archbishops of Ireland) will announce new appointments after they meet later this month.

Father O’Carroll said “I wish to take this opportunity to acknowledge the contribution that Father McDonnell, Father Swan and Father Hayden have made to the life of the college during their time of service here.  I wish them every blessing and success in their new appointments and for the future.”

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For media contact: Catholic Communications Office Maynooth: Martin Long 00353 (0) 86 172 7678 and Brenda Drumm 00353 (0) 87 310 4444

Our Gospel reading reminds us that Jesus is the true vine.  Vines are very delicate and fragile plants.  It takes some years after planting before they begin to produce any fruit at all.  Damage done to a vine – even in a matter of a few hours – can set back the patient work of years.  A surprising hailstorm can in minutes destroy an entire year’s harvest.

Vines are delicate plants and thus require much patient attention.  Jesus, then, uses the image of the vinedresser to explain to his hearers the loving care of God for his people.  God is like the vinedresser: he is careful and attentive with his people and he wishes them to flourish with the best fruit.  God cares for us and wishes us to have a full and fulfilling life.

Vines require constant, vigilant attention as not all the branches will produce the same good quality fruit.  The grape and wine market is one where quality counts. The plant has to be pruned and watched to see that each branch produces the very best fruit possible but also that rotting or infected branches do not harm the healthy ones and the desired fruit.  The purpose of pruning is not to cut back, but to allow what is best to survive and flourish and receive the nourishment which will allow it to grow to its natural fullness.

On the other hand, a branch which is cut off from the life stream of the vine becomes totally useless.  It withers and is useful only to be burned.

This Gospel is about the Christian life and about the Church.  The mission of the Church is to bring the saving and healing power of God’s love into the life of each of us so that we can flourish. That mission involves working to make certain that each branch produces the very best fruit possible.  It also involves ensuring that rotting or infected branches do not damage the healthy branches and the desired fruit.  If we fail to effectively remove putrid and infected branches then we damage the ability of the healthy to flourish. If we fail effectively to remove putrid and infected branches then we put at the greatest risk the fragile saps at the most delicate moment of their growth.

Nothing can be farther from the desire of God’s care than to allow those who are weakest to be damaged at the most delicate moment of their lives.  And the logic of the parable of the vinedresser reminds us that no one should be surprised that not eliminating the infected branches inevitably leads to damaging the entire vine and the good fruit that it is called to produce.

The Church must relentlessly address into the future the lessons from the scandal of the abuse of children within the Church of Jesus Christ.  Part of learning what renewal in the Church means is learning genuinely how to repent.

The parable of the vinedresser addresses many other aspects of the challenge of renewal in our Church.  Being a Christian means that we bear fruit.  There is no such thing as a passive Christian, just parked there not having any sense of direction or purpose. Our faith is not something static, something that we can park in the back of minds and only recall for special occasions or moments of crisis.  The branch which is not thoroughly alive quickly looses the natural sap which alone brings growth and fruitfulness.

We can go through all the outward expressions of belonging to the Church, but unless we possess the life of Christ within us and unless we attend each day to see that our way of living the life of Christ is cleansed and pruned to produce higher quality fruit, then we will never attain Christian maturity. Cut-off from the life of Christ we can do nothing.

But the image of the vine is a still more complex one.  The life source of the entire vine is the same.  As I noted earlier, each branch which sprouts may be different, but it is never an independent autonomous one, but one which belongs within the complex reality of the entire plant, with its good and its weaker branches, with its stronger and more fragile shoots.  The vine is the image of the Church, through which the life-giving energy of Jesus is mediated to us in complex and intricate ways.

Each one of us is called to interiorise our faith, to make it a faith which is deeply personal.  But there is only one source of faith in Jesus Christ and that is within the communion of the Church and in the life of the Church.  Being a Christian means belonging to the body of Christ.  All the Eucharistic Prayers stress that it is within the Eucharistic community that the Spirit gathers us into one.

The life of Christ comes to us within the reality of the Church. That Church, however, must also renew and purify itself so that it is more clearly rooted in Jesus Christ himself.

We are today witnessing a challenging and difficult period in the life of the Church in Ireland.  I believe in the first place that there are great things happening in parishes, large and small, urban and rural, within this Archdiocese of Dublin and around the country.  But it has also to be said that there are unhealthy divisions within the Church. The Church is called to be a sign of unity, yet this is not the witness that is being given of the Church in today’s Ireland.

There have always been divisions and disagreements within the Church.  But Christians must learn to resolve their divisions according to the indications of the Gospel.  The truth has no need for negative polemics. Negative polemics do not build-up but divide.  In debate within the Church the truth must always be spoken in love.

The first premise of any reform and renewal in the Church is to realise what being a Christian is about.  Being a Christian is not just about a list of rules and norms; it is not just about the place of the Church in politics and society or its views on the issues of the day.   Being a Christian is about establishing a real personal relationship with Jesus Christ, allowing his life to come to us as the life-flow of the vine.  It is about allowing the truth of Jesus to make us people of love and of integrity, within that communion which is the body of Christ.

It is only when we know Jesus that we will understand what the Christian faith is about.  I am saddened by some of the polemics taking place in the Church today.  I am saddened by some comments made in the public arena about Pope Benedict, as if all he did as Pope was somehow suppressing the truth.  There is no mention of the fact that Pope Benedict has in these few years of his ministry as Pope written two extraordinary and striking books on Jesus Christ, witnessing to all of us and challenging us to get to know Jesus in a deeper way and to enter once again into a deep relationship with the Jesus we discover in faith.  And he stresses that we do that through a reflection which is at the same time intellectual and prayerful.

The reform of the externals within the Church will only be fruitful and authentic when it grows more deeply from a genuine desire to know Jesus better.  Without that deepening of faith the externals will be looked on as just organizational principles.   Very few people along the history of the Church have been attracted to it just because of its external structures.  A Church fixated today on its internal disputes will do very little to attract young people to the message of Jesus, but will only alienates them further.   The Gospel needs to be preached with conviction and enthusiasm.

Today we need not discontent but hope.  We have no need to lose hope.  In difficult times like today in the life of the Church, we should remember that in history renewal has often been spurred on precisely at times of real crisis.  History reminds us also that renewal within the Church has been led and spurred on by men and women who passionately endeavoured to know Jesus and to follow him in truth and in love.   Those who have renewed the Church in history have been the committed saints rather than the commentators from the sidelines.

We are here today to launch a simple prayer book to help prepare for the forthcoming 50th International Eucharistic Congress.  The Eucharistic Congress is an important moment to encourage renewal and unity in the Church.  It is a forward looking event.  It sets out to showcase, in a modest and not in a triumphalistic way, what is good and active in the Catholic Church in Ireland today and where renewal is taking place.

What is different in the Eucharistic Congress is that the setting will not be just that of a debating society, but one nourished in an atmosphere of prayer and where day-by-day those participating will be nourished by the Eucharist which, as was stressed in the Vatican Council, is the summit towards which the activity of the Church is directed and the font from which all her power flows.

The Church is the People of God.  But we become truly people of God when we live as God’s holy people.  Reform of the Church takes place through the efforts of our minds and intellectual reflection on the roots of our faith.  But reform of the Church also takes place on our knees, prostrate not before bishops or before gurus of the day, but on our knees before Jesus and his self giving love.

This prayer book is just the first of a series of initiatives which will be launched here in the Archdiocese of Dublin in the coming weeks to prepare for the Eucharistic Congress.  I have invited young people representative of all the parishes of the diocese to a youth forum of prayer, questioning and celebration of faith.  Parishes will be asked to celebrate vigils of prayer and Eucharistic adoration over one weekend, and on another weekend there will be a call to the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  There will be an event for priests.  Masses will be said on one day in the many nursing homes so that the sick and elderly can feel part of the Congress.  There is an art competition in our Catholic schools.   There will be an event in which those who minister the Eucharist will minister to those who have no food.  A symbolic pilgrim walk will be opened inviting believers to carry out a traditional “Camino” around seven Churches in Dublin city centre, beginning with the Church of Ireland Church of Saint Anne in Dawson Street and ending in the Pro-Cathedral.

These are all simple signs and gestures.  The aim is to show people that the Church in Dublin is in mission and on the move, that there is something happening in the Church.

I was very struck by comment on the Church in a new book by Cardinal Walter Kasper who describes much of the discussion within the Church is having become stagnated and arid and he calls for a new beginning.   He lists three things that should belong to that new beginning and might act as a guide to all of us to ensure that our programmes of renewal are on a sure track:    a spiritual renewal nourished by the sources of our faith, solid theological reflection, and an ecclesial mentality.

An “ecclesial mentality” does not mean, on the one hand, a neo-clerical culture or, on the other hand, a closed timid fearful retreat from the world.  It involves selflessly seeking the distinctive mark of the Church, a search for truth in love, based on developing what is the theme of our forthcoming Eucharistic Congress: “Communion with Christ and with One Another”.

ENDS

Further Information: Annette O Donnell 087 8143462

The lead story in this morning’s Irish Independent  ‘Vatican rejected Brady’s offer to step down’ is untrue.  This news report seems to be confusing the announcement of Cardinal Seán Brady on 17 May 2010 requesting Episcopal support: “I have asked Pope Benedict XVI for additional support for my work, at Episcopal level”.  No such offer of resignation was made.  As stated on 20 March last, during the Bishops’ press conference in Maynooth to launch the Summary of the Findings of the Apostolic Visitation in Ireland, this request for Episcopal help by Cardinal Brady was put on hold pending the outcome of the Apostolic Visitation, but it is has now been reactivated.

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For media contact: Catholic Communications Office Maynooth: Martin Long 00353 (0) 86 172 7678

‘With others, I feel betrayed that those who had the authority in the Church to stop Brendan Smyth failed to act on the evidence I gave them. However, I also accept that I was part of an unhelpful culture of deference and silence in society, and the Church, which thankfully is now a thing of the past.’ – Cardinal Seán Brady

Responding to the BBC ‘This World’ programme entitled ‘The Shame of the Catholic Church’, broadcast on 1 May 2012, Cardinal Seán Brady has issued the following statement:

On Tuesday 1 May 2012, the BBC ‘This World’ series broadcast a programme entitled ‘The Shame of the Catholic Church’ on the BBC Northern Ireland network. In the course of the programme a number of claims were made which overstate and seriously misrepresent my role in a Church Inquiry in 1975 into allegations against the Norbertine priest Fr Brendan Smyth.

In response to the programme I wish to draw attention to the following:

Six weeks before broadcast (15 March 2012) I drew the attention of the programme makers to a number of important facts related to the 1975 Church inquiry into Brendan Smyth, which the programme failed to report and which I now wish to restate for all other media who report on this matter:

• To suggest, as the programme does, that I led the investigation of the 1975 Church Inquiry into allegations against Brendan Smyth is seriously misleading and untrue. I was asked by my then Bishop (Bishop Francis McKiernan of the Diocese of Kilmore) to assist others who were more senior to me in this Inquiry process on a one-off basis only;
• The documentation of the interview with Brendan Boland, signed in his presence, clearly identifies me as the ‘notary’ or ‘note taker’. Any suggestion that I was other than a ‘notary’ in the process of recording evidence from Mr Boland, is false and misleading;
• I did not formulate the questions asked in the Inquiry process. I did not put these questions to Mr Boland. I simply recorded the answers that he gave;
• Acting promptly and with the specific purpose of corroborating the evidence provided by Mr Boland, thereby strengthening the case against Brendan Smyth, I subsequently interviewed one of the children identified by Mr Boland who lived in my home diocese of Kilmore. That I conducted this interview on my own is already on the public record. This provided prompt corroboration of the evidence given by Mr Boland;
• In 1975 no State or Church guidelines existed in the Republic of Ireland to assist those responding to an allegation of abuse against a minor. No training was given to priests, teachers, police officers or others who worked regularly with children about how to respond appropriately should such allegations be made;
• Even according to the State guidelines in place in the Republic of Ireland today, the person who first receives and records the details of an allegation of child abuse in an organisation that works with children is not the person who has responsibility within that organisation for reporting the matter to the civil authorities. This responsibility belongs to the ‘Designated person’ appointed by the organisation and trained to assume that role. In 1975, I would not have been the ‘Designated Person’ according to today’s guidelines. As the Children First State guidelines explain (3.3.1):‘Every organisation, both public and private, that is providing services for children or that is in regular direct contact with children should (i) Identify a designated liaison person to act as a liaison with outside agencies and a resource person to any staff member or volunteer who has child protection concerns.(ii) The designated liaison person is responsible for ensuring that the standard reporting procedure is followed, so that suspected cases of child neglect or abuse are referred promptly to the designated person in the HSE Children and Family Services or in the event of an emergency and the unavailability of the HSE, to An Garda Síochána.’;
• The commentary in the programme and much of the coverage of my role in this Inquiry gives the impression that I was the only person who knew of the allegations against Brendan Smyth at that time and that because of the office I hold in the Church today I somehow had the power to stop Brendan Smyth in 1975. I had absolutely no authority over Brendan Smyth. Even my Bishop had limited authority over him. The only people who had authority within the Church to stop Brendan Smyth from having contact with children were his Abbot in the Monastery in Kilnacrott and his Religious Superiors in the Norbertine Order. As Monsignor Charles Scicluna, Promoter of Justice at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith confirmed in an interview with RTÉ this morning, it was Brendan Smyth’s superiors in the Norbertine Order who bear primary responsibility for failing to take the appropriate action when presented with the weight of evidence I had faithfully recorded and that Bishop McKiernan subsequently presented to them;
• The following statement from Monsignor Scicluna had been made to the BBC programme makers six weeks in advance of its broadcast but was not acknowledged by them in any way: ‘It is clear to me that in 1975 Fr Brady, now Cardinal Brady, acted promptly and with determination to ensure the allegations being made by the children were believed and acted upon by his superiors. His actions were fully consistent with his duties under canon law. But the power to act effectively to remove Brendan Smyth from priestly ministry lay exclusively with the Abbot of Holy Trinity Abbey in Kilnacrott and his superiors in the Norbertine Order. This is where the sincere efforts of Bishop McKiernan and others like Fr Brady to prevent Brendan Smyth from perpetrating further harm were frustrated, with tragic consequences for the lives of so many children. I know that in his role as President of the Irish Bishops’ Conference, Cardinal Brady has worked tirelessly with his fellow bishops to ensure such a situation could never occur again and that the civil authorities in Ireland are now promptly informed of allegations of abuse against children. We have all learned from the tragic experience of the Church in Ireland but also from the sincere efforts of so many lay faithful, religious, priests and bishops to make the Church in Ireland an example of best practice in safeguarding children.’;
• In fact, I was shocked, appalled and outraged when I first discovered in the mid 1990’s that Brendan Smyth had gone on to abuse others. I assumed and trusted that when Bishop McKiernan brought the evidence to the Abbot of Kilnacrott that the Abbot would then have dealt decisively with Brendan Smyth and prevented him from abusing others. With others, I feel betrayed that those who had the authority in the Church to stop Brendan Smyth failed to act on the evidence I gave them. However, I also accept that I was part of an unhelpful culture of deference and silence in society, and the Church, which thankfully is now a thing of the past;
• As to other children named in the evidence recorded during the Inquiry process, I had no further involvement in the Inquiry process once I handed over the evidence taken. I trusted that those with the authority to act in relation to Brendan Smyth would treat the evidence seriously and respond appropriately. I had no such authority to act and even by today’s guidance from the State I was not the person who had the role of bringing the allegations received to the attention of the civil authorities. I was also acutely aware that I had no authority in Church law in relation to Brendan Smyth or any other aspect of the Inquiry process;
• Today, Church policy in Ireland is to report allegations of abuse to the civil authorities. It recognises the Gardai and HSE as those with responsibility for investigating such allegations and that any Church investigation should not take place until the investigation by the civil authorities has been completed. I have fully supported this policy and have worked with my fellow Bishops and the leaders of Religious Congregations to put this policy in place;
• The programme made reference to a statement I made in the course of an RTÉ interview in which I suggested that if my failure to act on an allegation of abuse against a child led to further children being abused, that I would then consider resigning from my position. The programme failed to point out, however, that I gave this answer in response to a question specifically about someone in a position of ‘Management’, someone who was already a Bishop or Religious Superior with ultimate responsibility for managing a priest against whom an allegation has been made. In 1975, I was not a Bishop. I was not in that role. It was misleading of the BBC programme to apply my response to the RTÉ interview on a completely different situation to my role in the 1975 Inquiry.

It is my view that the ‘This World’ programme has set out to deliberately exaggerate and misrepresent my role in these events. The programme suggested that no response to their questions had been provided before the programme was completed, whereas in fact a comprehensive response had been provided to the programme six weeks in advance and only days after the ‘door-stepping’ interview with me in Limerick.

I deeply regret that those with the authority and responsibility to deal appropriately with Brendan Smyth failed to do so, with tragic and painful consequences for those children he so cruelly abused. I also deeply regret that no guidelines from the State or the Church were available to guide the sincere and serious effort made to respond to the allegations made by the two boys interviewed in the Inquiry process. With many others who worked regularly with children in 1975, I regret that our understanding of the full impact of abuse on the lives of children as well as the pathology and on-going risk posed by a determined paedophile was so inadequate. It is important to acknowledge that today both the Church and the State have proper and robust procedures in place to respond to allegations of abuse against children. I fully support these new procedures which include the obligation to report such allegations promptly to the civil authorities. I have worked with others in the Church to put these new procedures in place and I look forward to continuing that vital work in the years ahead.

For media contact: Catholic Communications Office Maynooth: Martin Long 00353 (0) 86 172 7678 and Brenda Drumm 00353 (0) 87 310 4444

The 50th International Eucharistic Congress 2012 (IEC2012) launches a free iPhone and iPad App designed exclusively for Congress pilgrims by Dominican Friar Luuk Dominiek Jansen in conjunction with IEC2012 staff.

The IEC2012 App gives pilgrims from all over the world the opportunity to experience the Congress through 21st Century technology.  The App provides a comprehensive guide for pilgrims to the Congress programme including a pilgrim guide, a pastoral resources tool, and news and multimedia feeds.

Additional functions within the App include a daily guide for pilgrims about Congress events in the RDS; where the main Congress programme, youth programme, prayer space programme, children’s programme and exhibitions take place. Information is also fed through the App about the host Churches programme that will run across 34 Dublin Churches and Statio Orbis, the final Mass Croke Park.

A unique feature of this App is the ‘My Planner’ section, which allows pilgrims to organise their own personal schedule based around the Congress week programme. ‘My Planner’ creates an individual timetable for the pilgrim based around the workshops, talks, exhibitions and arena events that they are interested in attending.

The App also provides a map and GPS locations for each scheduled event on the Congress programme. Pilgrims will be able to locate where they want to go and how to get there.

Designer of the App, Br Luuk, a native of the Netherlands, explained: “The App is built to be very flexible. The information regarding the Congress changes all the time; new information becomes available and updates to the programme are made. Therefore, we needed an App that would automatically update itself when new or changed information becomes available in the lead up to the Congress.”

The App has a complex synchronisation system build in, as a result when the Application is first downloaded, it connects directly to the host server and retrieves the most up to date information. This process creates and populates the App menus.

As changes to the App are made, a push notification is sent to the device notifying it to download the updates. The App searches for updates every time it is opened. All of the information is stored in a database to ensure the App can be used offline, when no data network or wifi is available while travelling.

Pilgrims using the App will be kept well informed throughout the Congress with the flexible approach that this App adopts, providing the most up to date information at all times.

Additional functions of the App include the news and multimedia sections that inform pilgrims through Youtube videos, photos on Flickr, press releases and TV feeds in the lead up to and during the Congress

A tab with ‘Pastoral Resources’ contains the Congress prayer, an mp3 to play the Congress hymn Though We are Many, details about the IEC2012 logo, the patron saints and Congress Icons, theology and pastoral reflections on the theme of the Congress, and prayers and reflections around the Eucharist.

The pilgrim guide section of the App has details about onsite booking, ticket collection, and maps with GPS guides to the RDS venues, Croke Park, the host Churches, the seven City Churches pilgrimage and optional tourist attractions.

How to download the App

Login to the iTunes store, search for IEC2012 or click on the following link to download the free iPhone and iPad IEC2012 App: http://itunes.apple.com/app/iec-2012/id512917631?Is=1&mt=8

Ends

Further information:

•    Aisling Harmey, Media Relations Manager, 50th International Eucharistic Congress 2012, Tel: 00353 (01) 234 9903    Mob: 00353 (0) 87 137 2447    Email: press@iec2012.ie
•    Aoife Connors, Media Officer, 50th International Eucharistic Congress 2012, Tel: 00353 (01) 234 9940    Mob: 00353 (0) 87 628 0580    Email: pressofficer@iec2012.ie

Notes for Editors:

Br Luuk is available for interview upon request
•    The 50th International Eucharistic Congress 2012 will take place in Dublin from 10 – 17 June 2012 with up to 20,000 pilgrims expected to attend each day at the RDS, including 12,000 international pilgrims representing 99 different countries.
•    IEC2012 will transform the RDS into a Eucharistic Village for an eight day festival of faith and culture. The Eucharist will be celebrated in the Liturgy and adored in the Prayer Space.
•    The Congress is an international gathering of people, every four years somewhere in the world, which aims to promote an awareness of the central place of the Eucharist in the life and mission of the Catholic Church; to help improve our understanding and celebration of the liturgy and to draw attention to the social dimension of the Eucharist. These aims are achieved through a programme of pastoral preparation in the years leading up to the Congress and a programme of liturgical and cultural events, lectures and workshops over the course of one week.  Previous Congresses took place in Quebec (2008) and Guadalajara (2004)
•    The theme of the Congress is ‘The Eucharist: Communion with Christ and with one Another’ (Communion – like Solidarity – means a relationship of mutual love and self-giving).
•    On 17 June, more than 80,000 people are expected to gather and celebrate Statio Orbis, the Final Mass, of the 50th International Eucharistic Congress 2012 at Croke Park Stadium.
•    There will be 18 keynote addresses by international speakers.
•    The full programme is available at: http://www.iec2012.ie/programme
•    For more information: www.iec2012.ie
•    Registration for the Congress is now live on http://www.iec2012.ie/registration