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The Preparations

Online pre-meeting - 13-20 September 2020.

These short videos have arrived from 11 countries of five continents and have been uploaded to the YouTube channel of the Congress.

This online pre-meeting was opened by Cardinal, Péter Erdő, Primate of Hungary on the 13 th September. The Cardinal underlined the importance of the prayer by which we could reflect together on the huge experience and shock that the pandemic brought into our lives.

The opening day started with Mons. Piero Marini’s message from Rome. The President of the Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses emphasized that this coronavirus showed us what really mattered: Holy Masses have never stopped during the pandemic, but manifested in solidarity that had been inspired by the Eucharist. Mons. Marini also called us for an ecological conversion, since in the hope of a better future, we are responsible for our planet as well as for our fellow men.

On 14 th September, Valerian Maduka Okeke, the Archbishop of the Onitsha Diocese, Nigeria, sent his message. In his message the African Archbishop had thanked the “good people of Hungary”, the Government of Hungary and the people of God for showing them Eucharistic love, and supporting with donations the African community that is starving from hunger while suffering from Christian persecution and pandemic as well.

On the 15 th September, the gratefulness of the persecuted Chaldean Catholic Community was forwarded to the people and the Government of Hungary by the video message of Cardinal Louis Raphaël Sako, Patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church. The long years of the war in Iraq has caused deep wounds. The leader of the Catholic community emphasized that though the prayer itself could not change the events directly, but it could influence both the heart and the attitude of the people experiencing those events. “The one who prays, enjoys the peace and experiences the joy of kindness in his relation with others” – said the leader of the Chaldean Catholic community.

On the 16 th September, Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York focused our attention on the importance of the renewal: “We can’t have renewal in the Church unless there is a renewal in our faith.”

On the 17 th September, Johannes Hartl German theologian-philosopher, having been converted as an adult, underlined the phenomenon that during the lockdown time people turned towards prayer and spirituality. According to the theologian-literary scholar people have to be taught to have a deep prayer life because it can help to persist in both crises and temporary lack of receiving the Eucharist.

On the same day a video message of Moysés Azevedo, founder of the Shalom Catholic Community was broadcasted. He said that the virus had not been sent by God, since: “God is with us, God is present in the midst of the pain and suffering of the mankind.” He also emphasized: “We are not alone. Jesus promised us to be with us every day of our lives. The Lord gives us the grace and strength to succeed with the power of the cross and resurrection.”

On the 18 th September Ägidius J. Zsifkovics, Diocesan Bishop of Eisenstadt (Austria) spoke about the unusual experiences the Christians went through in the times of the coronavirus pandemic. He drew a parallel with the deprivation experienced by the sons of Israel during their wilderness wanderings. He emphasized that the Church could show people where to relieve their hunger by the Heavenly Bread and where to quench their thirst.

Video message of the theologian Dr. Mary Healy from Detroit was also uploaded to the IEC2020 YouTube channel this day. Through a Scripture passage she drew an analogy between the woman healed by Jesus from the flow of blood and us, having been experiencing fear and anxiety recently. She recalled Jesus’ words to the woman: “Daughter, your faith has made you well.”

On the 19 th September in his short film it was Cardinal Gérald Lacroix, Archbishop of Quebec who shared his thoughts, as to which the pandemic was an invitation to deepen our faith. The Congress is a perfect instrument of this. Upon the experiences of the Canadian World Meeting he summed up: “The Congress helps us to hear Jesus’ call to cross to the other side and to meet all those who are not yet aware of the joy of God’s love.”

Same day, Jean-Luc Moens, moderator of CHARIS spoke about the faith he had experienced in the locked-up times, about the state of grace and the discovery of God’s presence within himself. He summarized all this in these words. “Jesus, I know you are here and I love you.”

On the 20 th September, on the last day of the online pre-meeting Konstantin Szabó, Greek Catholic priest from Trans-Carpathia was talking about how they had experienced besides having a fear of God and how their faith strengthened. In his message Konstantin Szabó underlined the most important was that they had been able to pass through these challenging times with love.

Following the usual Sunday Angelus Pope Francis extended his greetings to Hungary, the pastors, the faithful and all those who were expecting with faith and joy the Budapest International Eucharistic Congress. Pope Francis who was also to attend the Closing Mass of the World Meeting, asked everyone: “Spiritually united, let us continue the preparation, finding the source of the Church’s life and mission in the Eucharist.” The online pre-meeting, organised in the spirit of the International Eucharistic Congress was ended by Cardinal Péter Erdő, Primate of Hungary. The Cardinal shared his thoughts in the Heroes’ Square. On a site, where the Opening and Closing ceremonies of the 34 th International Eucharistic Congress in 1938 had taken place. He was talking from the square where in 1991 half a million faithful of a country seeking for its path and just liberated from the communist dictatorship were praying together with John Paul II, who stayed in Budapest that time. Amongst the many lessons the pandemic brought us, the Cardinal highlighted: “Many online Holy Masses have been broadcasted, but everyone knew that these were far from being equivalent to that of a personal presence. Thus the desire for the Eucharist dominated this year. May God grant that next year this time we may really celebrate together with the believers arriving from all over the world.”

Pray with us

Preparatory prayer for the Congress

Heavenly Father,
source of all life!
Send us your Holy Spirit,
that we may recognize
and grow in the love of Christ
present in the Eucharist,
who handed himself over for us!
He is our Lord and our Master,
our friend and our food,
our healer and our peace.
Give us the courage to take his strength
and his joy to every person!
Grant us, that the time of the preparation
and the celebration
of the Eucharistic Congress
would serve the spiritual renewal
of our community, cities, nation,
Europe and the world!
Amen.

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Cathecism 365

Let us read the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) together in one year!

The 3 + 1 (fourth) preparation year for IEC2020 has begun. The IEC Secretariat would like to offer some help with the spiritual part of this preparation.

We dedicate this year to deeds of love and faith. To perform these deeds, it is helpful to deepen our knowledge about our faith and get answers to our questions. As a preparation for the Eucharistic Congress, we invite you to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) read with us over the next year.

How to do this?

We have defined an approx. two-sided reading from the CCC for every day of the time period from September 28, 2020 to September 4, 2021, until the beginning of the Congress, (except Sundays and major holidays) using the numbering of CCC sections. The reading takes about 7 minutes a day. Our faith is definitely worth this care. :)

Where do you find the Catechism?

  • On the INTERNET,
  • You may also download a CCC application to your cell phone from the PlayStore (android) or App Store (iPhone).

How will I know what to read each day?

  • You may download the schedule for the whole year from HERE in a printable PDF-format. You may also use this schedule to keep track of your readings and also use it as a bookmark.

Shall I read it alone or with others?

You may read it alone, but it is nice to share your experiences and questions with others. We encourage existing communities, prayer groups, parish communities to read CCC together and discuss the read sections regularly weekly, biweekly or monthly – or even online. But you may also create new Catechism groups as well for this year.

Questions for processing the readings:

  1. What have these readings confirmed in me?
  2. What was the most surprising for me?
  3. Was there something I knew otherwise so far?
  4. What do I need to change in my life, to let the teaching of Catechism work in my life?
  5. What question would I ask about these sections from my theologian/priest/monk friend?
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