11/12/2023 0 Comments Paul forrest orbis internationalI thank the Orthodox Churches which have arranged to send their representatives, and among them I thank in a special way dear Metropolitan Damaskinos, who is representing my beloved brother, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I. I thank them for having come to take part in our praise and supplication. The joy of this celebration is made even greater by the participation of our other Christian brethren. I greet Cardinal Henryk Gulbinowicz, Archbishop of the Church in Wroclaw, which has taken on with such generosity of spirit the task of hosting the great event that is this Congress. I greet the Polish Episcopal Conference under the Presidency of the Cardinal Primate. I extend a special greeting to all the Cardinals, Archbishops and Bishops who are here, beginning with my Legate to the Congress, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, my Secretary of State. ![]() Through her representatives the universal Church is present today at Wroclaw. ![]() My eyes and heart embrace the whole of our great Eucharistic community, the character of which is authentically international, worldwide. All of this gives a particular eloquence to this Eucharistic Congress, and especially to this Statio Orbis. Here there meet in a certain way the spiritual traditions of East and West. It is, as it were, a city of encounter, a city that unites. Wroclaw is a city situated practically at the meeting point of three lands which through their history are very closely united to one another. ![]() The Archdiocese of Wroclaw is getting ready to celebrate its millennium. The Congress is taking place in Wroclaw, a city rich in history, tradition and Christian life. The Church in this way wishes to give thanks to Christ for the gift of freedom regained by all those nations that have suffered so much in the years of totalitarian oppression. The changes that have taken place here have begun a new era in the history of the modern world. In the series of Eucharistic Congresses which crosses every continent it is now the turn of Wroclaw - Poland and East Central Europe. So could this year have lacked this Eucharistic profession of faith by the whole Church? In the programme of spiritual preparation for the Jubilee, this year is dedicated to special contemplation of the Person of Jesus Christ: "Jesus Christ, the one Saviour of the world, yesterday, today and for ever" (cf. This Congress is part and parcel of the context of the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000. The Eucharist is the heart of the Church! It is the Eucharist that gives her the strength to grow and to be united. The Church lives by the Eucharist, she draws from it the spiritual energy to carry out her mission. Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy Sacrosanctum Concilium, 10). The Eucharist is the source and summit of the Church's life (cf. Truly, "having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end" (Jn 13:1). She wishes, before the whole world, to make once more the solemn profession of faith in the Eucharist and to sing the hymn of thanksgiving for this ineffable gift of divine love. The 46th International Eucharistic Congress now reaches its high point: the Statio Orbis! Spiritually gathered around this Altar today is the Church in every continent of the globe.
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