Cardinal Arinze Closes 9th FABC Plenary Assembly

(August 17, 2009) Papal envoy, Cardinal Francis Arinze, formally closed the 9th Plenary Assembly of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC) with a Eucharistic celebration at Pius XII Center, in the Philippine capital, Manila, on Sunday. More than 100 participants of the plenary assembly were present. In his homily on the theme, “Living the Eucharistic Mystery,” the prelate explained five elements of the Eucharist, namely: Eucharistic faith and reverence; the art of proper celebration; the Word of God and Eucharist; the Eucharistic celebration and inculturation; and the Role of the Diocesan Bishop. Cardinal Arinze stressed the Eucharist as the centre of sacred worship, quoting from documents like ‘Ecclesia de Eucharistia’, ‘Sacramentum Caritatis’, and others. At the closing of the Plenary Assembly, the participants issued a Message for the churches in Asia. In the document, the Eucharist is seen as a call to community, to hear the Word of God, a call to faith and hope, and a call to mission. The participants also agreed to a revised outline for the final document which will be published at a later date.