International Eucharistic Congress: Dublin 1932
The 50th International Eucharistic Congress it to take place in Dublin from the 10th
to the 17th June. In an effort to prepare for the event Veronica Scarisbrick steps
back in time :The first International Eucharistic Congress to be held in Dublin took place in June of 1932.It was to be an event so moving it would live on in the hearts and minds of Irish Catholics for generations to come.
A moment described at the time in the press “as a great Catholic festival with scenes of ecstatic religious fervour”.
On one occasion 'Paramount News' reported on how in the festooned streets decorated with white flowers “the faithful knelt in adoration”, as a solemn four mile procession with the consecrated host carried high for all to see wound its way to the Sacramental Pavilion at O’Connell Bridge.
Eighty years on,in his 'Basic Text' focusing on the forthcoming Dublin Eucharist Congress which is scheduled once again in this same city, once again in the month of June, precisely from the 10th to the 17th , the current Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin places this 1932 Congress into an historical context , explaining how it marked a moment of great religious accomplishment: “… The event responded to the needs of piety which people felt at that moment. It responded to the need for affirmation of the Catholic community in Ireland finding its way in the newly Independent State. Today Irish society has changed and Irish piety has changed. People are hesitant about a sense of triumph in the public affirmation of their faith….Coming after the Civil War which radically divided the people of Ireland this Eucharistic Congress represented the first major national event which brought together both sides…”.
In this document Archbishop Martin thus highlights how the event represented a strong moment of reconciliation for the people of irealnd.
But let’s step back in time for a moment to 1932 in the days when Popes didn’t travel but sent a representative to attend official events such as Eucharistic Congresses.
On this occasion the Pope of the time, Pius XI sent a Cardinal with a reputation of great distinction both at home and abroad, Lorenzo Lauri and entrusted him with the following message: “Go to Ireland in my name and say to the good people assembled there that the Holy Father loves Ireland and its inhabitants and visitors and imparts not the usual Apostolic blessing but a very special all embracing one.”
And the visitors Pius XI referred to in this message did come to Dublin, thousands of them from across the world: priests, nuns and lay faithful. Perhaps too because many of these pilgrims were of Irish stock and the Congress coincided with the 1500th anniversary of Saint Patrick’s arrival on the Emerald Isle. What’s certain is that reports of the time described how for six days Dublin became ' the hub of the Catholic World'.
Down at the port a dozen or so ocean liners had moored and pilgrims had poured out down the gang planks. They came from Europe but also from further away: the United States and Canada, Latin America, Australia, some even from China.
Many of them had come to know Ireland through the Irish missionary presence in their home country. Let’s recall for a moment how the theme of this Congress focused around the propagation of the Eucharist by Irish missionaries.
Certainly Pius XI attributed great importance to missionary zeal. On one occasion during that same year he was to highlight this zeal in a rather crackly sounding radio message.
As for Dublin it proved to be a welcoming city, for while many pilgrims found lodgings in the liners which acted as floating hotels, many others were invited in to the homes of Dubliners, there had even been mattress hand outs on the part of the authorities.
So extraordinary was the event that the Government had passed a special Act for the occasion. And on a more flashy note the local authorities had arranged for all the major buildings to be lit up at night by a series of powerful spotlights and coloured lamps .
However the highlight of this momentous occasion came on the final day of the Congress as an estimated million faithful gathered for an open air Holy Mass in the fifteen acre Phoenix Park .
The Pope from Rome lent his voice to the occasion. He did so from the Vatican‘s Apostolic Library, through the microphones of Vatican Radio, for all to hear right across Dublin. And as loudspeakers relayed his voice across town, when the announcer pronounced these words in Latin : ´ Attendite : Beatissimus Pater statim loquetur vobis ‘,all fell on their knees. They knew the Holy Father’s words were about to reach them. And speak he did,in Latin of course: “We pray”, he said, “ that God may grant you the gifts of unity and peace”. And finally imparting his Apostolic blessing he specified it was not just for 'your ' but rather for ' our' beloved Ireland, expressing the hope that it might rest there forever.
The press of the time decribed the atmosphere as quiet and prayerful. On a more curious note many among the faithful donned badges, the smartest of which were manufactured in die-stamped brass with gilt coating and blue enamel with the text read ‘Internat Dublinensis Congressu Eucharistic’. No doubt many Dubliners still treasure a few of these badges in their homes today .
Among the many visitors present on this occasion was English Catholic writer G.K Chesterton who commented: “ I confess I was myself enough of an outsider to feel flash through my mind, as the illimitable multitude began to melt away towards the gates and roads and bridges , the instantaneous thought this is Democracy; and everyone is saying there is no such thing.”
Little did Chesterton know that many years later, the first and only Pope ever to visit Ireland, the future Blessed Pope John Paul II would stand tall in this very same Park and preside over Holy Mass in this very same spot. Stressing in his homily on this occasion how: "We form a spiritual union in this Mass with all the generations who have done God’s will throughout the ages up to the present day.We are one in faith and spirit with the vast throng which filled this Phoenix Park on the occasion of the last great Eucharistic hosting held on this spot, at the Eucharistic Congress in 1932" .
But looking ahead to the forthcoming 2012 June International Eucharistic Congress, why not quote again from the Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin’s 'Basic Text' of this year's Congress. From the passage therein where he points as to how it too takes place at another crucial moment in the history of Ireland and of the Irish Church: “The Irish Church is in many ways a wounded Church and a Church which seeks a new direction. Like many European countries Ireland has undergone rapid social change in these years. Ireland has become a highly secularised society.”
And again further on in this same Text, touching on the recent scandal of sexual abuse of children by priests and religious in Ireland the Archbishop notes how : “This scandal has damaged the faith of many, who feel robbed of their faith and feel betrayed by their Church. This is so also of many of those who were abused and feel that a spiritual renewal should be an essential part of the healing process.”
Listen :
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