International Eucharistic Congress opens in Ecuador with call for fraternity

(OSV News) — The 53rd edition of the International Eucharistic Congress began on September 8 in Quito, Ecuador, with a strong call to build fraternity as a way to heal the wounds of a world full of fractures and violence.

The opening celebration was attended by a message from Pope Francis, in which he stressed that “we are one and only in such unity can we serve and heal the world.”

The meeting, which will end on September 15, was planned to promote human fraternity, in line with the Eucharistic invitation, despite the many divisions, under the theme “Fraternity to Heal the World.”

Archbishop Alfredo Espinoza of Quito said in his homily at the opening Mass that the city has become “a great Eucharistic tent” and that people from all over the world will reflect on a mystery that “challenges us to be true builders of fraternity to heal the wounds of the world,” in a time “full of violence, death and wars.”

The opening mass took place in Quito’s Bicentennial Park in the presence of thousands of people and dozens of bishops. To make the celebration even more joyful, 1,600 children received their first communion during the mass.

Cardinal Baltazar Porras Cardozo, former Archbishop of Caracas, Venezuela, was also present as papal legate to the congress.

For Bishop José Adalberto Jiménez of the Vicariate of Aguarico in the Ecuadorian Amazon, the combination of the perspective of adoration that the Eucharist brings with the call to a living practice of faith was striking in Pope Francis’ message to the congress. The pope sent the message as he traveled the world on his most distant and longest apostolic journey to date, to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and East Timor.

“The Pope invited us to be on the side of those who suffer — and to do so with concrete gestures. That idea of ​​a proactive fraternity made a deep impression on me,” Bishop Jiménez stressed, adding that the Pope pointed out that simple actions “must lead us to a new world, a fairer and more humane one.”

“We must touch the wounds of social reality, contaminated by social injustice caused by political inertia and corruption,” as well as by “deaths caused by immigration” and poverty, “by criminal gangs, by the violation of the rights of prisoners, by the suffering of the families of alcoholics and drug addicts,” and by “the illegal mining that is destroying the Amazon,” Bishop Jiménez told OSV News, pointing to the painful reality of the region.

“The congress was preceded by a theological symposium (September 4-7) that brought together more than 600 theologians from all over the world. Their scientific reflections are now followed by a more pastoral and catechetical approach,” Father Juan Carlos Garzón, secretary general of the congress, told OSV News.

With the theme “Wounded World”, the first full day of the congress allowed participants to reflect on the suffering that currently exists in the world’s societies.

The issue sounds especially familiar in Ecuador’s capital. One of the speakers — Quito Mayor Pabel Muñoz — was scheduled to discuss the hardships in his city, which along with several other regions suffered a wave of violence in January. Auxiliary Bishop Hryhoriy Komar of Sambir-Drohobych, Ukraine, was scheduled to speak about the fallout from the Russian invasion.

On the second full day, September 10, the conference will look at different forms of building fraternity. Three Latin American bishops will tell the stories of important members of the region’s episcopate in the past, such as Bishop Leonidas Proaño, an Ecuadorian-born prelate who dedicated his life to helping indigenous groups and peasants.

The theme for day three will focus on the transfiguration of the world brought about by the Eucharist. One of the speakers will be Father José Antonio Maeso, a Spanish-born priest who has worked with prisoners in Ecuador for several years—often using puppets in his work with them. Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens of Crookston, Minnesota, organizer of the 2024 National Eucharistic Congress in the U.S., will also be a guest for the day.

The final two days of discussions will focus on synodality and connections between the Eucharist and fraternity. Among the speakers will be Bishop Rafael Cob of Puyo, in the Ecuadorian Amazon, who will talk about his work with the Pan-Amazonian Ecclesial Network, known in Spanish as REPAM.

The Congress will conclude with a Eucharistic procession through the streets of Quito’s old central district on September 14. The closing Mass will be celebrated on September 15.

Father Garzón recalled that it has been 20 years since the last International Eucharistic Congress was held in a Latin American country. In 2004, it was held in Guadalajara, Mexico.

“We will receive participants from 60 countries, but the event will certainly have a Latin American and Ecuadorian face. I think that the Church in our region can make a special contribution when it comes to promoting fraternity, in line with the Pope’s message,” said Father Garzón.

It is also a region dealing with violence, divisions and wounds, he added.

“We live in a wounded world. We hear people talking about how they work in difficult places, without seeing others as enemies. We hope that our minds are open to receive the blow of the Holy Spirit,” he added.

Bishop Jiménez recalled that this year’s Eucharistic Congress coincides with the 150th anniversary of the South American country’s consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In 1874, Archbishop José Ignacio Checa y Barba of Quito led the ceremony — side by side with President Gabriel García Moreno — marking the first time a country had done so.

“That has enormous spiritual significance and will certainly also shed light on the social dimension of the Church’s work,” Bishop Jiménez told OSV News.

“May this Congress open the way for us to the Christ of the Tabernacle and may He lead us to the suffering Christs of our sick brothers, marginalized and forgotten by society,” he concluded.

Eduardo Campos Lima writes for OSV News from São Paulo.