PRESS RELEASE
17 APRIL 2002
POPE JOHN PAUL II ISSUES HOLY THURSDAY
ENCYCLICAL LETTER ON THE EUCHARIST
Strictly embargoed until 11.00am on Thursday 17 April 2003
The Vatican Information Service made public today the Encyclical Letter
ECCLESIA DE EUCHARISTIA (On the Eucharist and its Relationship to the Church)
of His Holiness Pope John Paul II.
This is the Holy Father’s 14th Encyclical Letter, and it will be signed by him
during the Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord’s Supper in St Peter’s Basilica this
evening. In his general audience yesterday (16 April), the Pope said that “in
this text I intend to give every believer an organic reflection on the Eucharistic
sacrifice that gathers within it the entire spiritual good of the Church”.
The Encyclical provides a comprehensive summary of the Church’s teaching on the
Eucharist. In his Introduction, the Holy Father says that “from the time I began
my ministry as the Successor of Peter, I have always marked Holy Thursday, the day
of the Eucharist and of the priesthood, by sending a letter to all the priests of
the world. This year, the twenty-fifth of my Pontificate, I wish to involve the
whole Church more fully in this Eucharistic reflection, also as a way of thanking
the Lord for the gift of the Eucharist and the priesthood” (#7).
The full text of the Encyclical follows. Click here
Ends
17 April 2003
Further information:
Fr Martin Clarke: 087 220 8044
Weblinks:
Click here for One Bread One Body
A TEACHING DOCUMENT ON THE EUCHARIST IN
THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH, AND THE ESTABLISHMENT
OF GENERAL NORMS ON SACRAMENTAL SHARING
Published in 1998
