IEC2012: Congress and New Evangelisation

With under 8 weeks to go to the opening Mass in the RDS, Dublin on Sunday June 10^th, over 32,000 pilgrims have registered for the 50th International Eucharistic Congress (IEC2012) in Ireland. Now Organisers are focusing efforts on those who still haven’t registered to be part of the week-long gathering of prayer, catechesis and discussion and even those who perhaps would never think of taking part in a Church Congress. Listen :

They have decided to take Congress and Christianity onto the streets of Dublin and open it up to erstwhile believers and even non-believers, and to help them do this they have enlisted the help of the organisers of the Alpha Course.

As part of the IEC2012 ‘Host Church’ program – which sees over 20 churches dedicated to different language groups open up across Dublin city centre for prayer meetings, adoration, talks and events throughout the week - Whitefriar Street Church in Aungier Street will host a special curtailed version of the 15 week Alpha Course alongside the Congress.

The Alpha Course began in the late 1970s primarily for people who don't go to church or who haven't been to church in a long time and are interested in the Christian faith. Described as a ‘parish tool’, an estimated 18 million people have completed Alpha Courses since 1993 and it has been adopted by Protestant, Orthodox and Catholic churches in 60,000 parishes around the world.

Supporters of the course include Cardinal Marc Ouellet, Papal Legate for IEC2012 who said: “Alpha brings people closer and helps them to find that power which unites. The Alpha experience is not only a means through which one finds true life, but also a way to share the good news of the Living Christ. It paves the way for reconciliation and is a symbol of hope for Christian unity.”

Moreover Anglican vicar Nicky Gumbel, who pioneered the course, will give a special talk at the Congress in the RDS on Thursday June 14, the day dedicated to the theme of reconciliation. He will discuss the theme of unity in a talk entitled ‘Communion in our Common Baptism’, focusing on Jesus’ prayer that those who believe in Him ‘may be one ... so that the world may believe’ (John 17: 21).

Claire Mckeever is Alpha in a Catholic Context Relationship Manager: “As Papal preacher Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa once said Alpha is not called the Alpha and Omega course…because it doesn’t claim to lead people from the beginning to the end in faith, only to help them get acquainted with it and to foster a personal encounter with Jesus. Then it is up to the Church to build on that rekindled faith”.

She adds: “The mini Alpha course will be there for those people who can’t attend the main Congress events during the day. Offering them somewhere to go to meet, talk and even pray with other people, sharing their experiences”. “Really at the Congress, for those who experience mini-Alpha, we hope they will experience a rekindling of the faith, that they will be refreshed in their faith. We hope they will begin to think of how they can build on what they have witnessed during the Congress, within their Parish and rediscover the beauty of having faith.