Cebu is venue for Int'l Eucharistic Congress

CEBU will be the official venue of the International Eucharistic Congress (IEC) that will gather Catholic pilgrims and leaders around the world. Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma said the IEC will be held from May 23 to 29, 2016. The big event to be hosted by the Cebu Archdiocese carries the theme “Christ in You: Our Hope of Glory.” Palma, also the president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines, said they invited Pope Francis to come to Cebu for the IEC three years from now. The prelate, who just arrived in the country last week after attending committee meetings in Rome, said the country’s theologians continue to convene to prepare the topics to be discussed during the IEC. The IEC is held every four years to promote awareness of the Eucharist in the life and mission of the Church, to improve understanding and celebration of the liturgy, and to draw to the social dimension of the Eucharist. The last time the Philippines hosted the IEC was in 1937 in Manila. The Cebu Archdiocese also celebrated its 79th anniversary and the feast of St. Vitalis at the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral yesterday. In his homily, Palma reminds the faithful to remember the saints who offered their lives to proclaim the faith. “We can make everything holy if it is in accordance with God’s will,” Palma said. Reporter Ador Vincent Mayol and Correspondent Joy Cherry S. Quito