Tens of thousands of people flocked to Guadalajara's Jalisco Stadium to attend a Mass opening the 48th International Eucharistic Congress.
For many, Pope John Paul II's envoy, Cardinal Jozef Tomko, crystallized the congress' main focus as he led the Oct. 10 opening Mass, urging people to "ask who the Eucharist is, not what the Eucharist is."
"That was an amazing phrase. I think everybody will remember it," said Auxiliary Bishop Patrick J. Zurek of San Antonio, Texas, as fireworks lit up the stadium at the close of the Mass.
Cardinal Tomko, president of the Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses, said devotion to the Eucharist is needed in a world "shaken by the dark shadows of wars both known and forgotten ... (and by) the ideological attacks on marriage, the family and on human life from its conception."
The scale of the event --- and the fervor of those who attended --- surprised many of the participants.
"I've never seen anything like this," said Father Michael E. O'Mara of St. Mary Church, Indianapolis. "It gives you a sense of the universality of our church."
An estimated 65,000 people packed the stadium to near capacity and periodically broke into thunderous chants of "You can see him, you can feel him, Jesus is here."
Each time Cardinal Tomko referred to the pope, the crowd burst into applause, at times chanting "John Paul II, the whole world loves you."
During the Mass, selections of the Scripture were read in a host of languages, including Spanish, English, German, Portuguese and French, among others. Thirty-five cardinals and some 250 bishops attended the event, along with hundreds of priests from six continents.
Beyond their desire to share devotion to the Eucharist, many American and Canadian participants said they had an extra incentive to attend the congress because it was being held in Mexico.
"We have a small, but growing Hispanic community in our parish," said Father Michael Basque of St. Stephen's Parish in Cayuga, Ontario. "Some of them are political refugees and some are migrant workers -- and we are being called on to serve them. So we have to understand them and know where they're coming from, and that's what we're trying to do."
Father O'Mara said he was in Mexico for a week before the congress opened, meeting with Mexican church leaders to strengthen the growing bonds between U.S. and Mexican dioceses.
The Mexican community in central Indiana is growing rapidly, Father O'Mara said, and most of the immigrants come from the Guadalajara area or from the state of Mexico, which surrounds Mexico City.
Father O'Hara said he has been coming to Guadalajara for three years and has helped develop seminarian exchanges between Guadalajara and Indianapolis with the hope that the exchanges will encourage more Hispanic priests to minister in Indiana.
This was the first time Bishop Zurek has attended an International Eucharistic Congress, and he said a chief reason for his visit was that, as a member of the clergy in San Antonio, "We're like brothers with the Mexican bishops."
"We have a saying on the border: 'una sola familia, una sola iglesia,'" said Bishop Zurek. "That is, 'one family, one church.'"
Many Guadalajara residents expressed pride that their city --- known in Mexico for its Catholic traditions --- was chosen to host the congress.
"It's a great privilege," said Jose Gabriel Jimenez, 64, president of one the city's many Catholic societies dedicated to periodic sessions of all-night adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.
Many of the groups, known as "adoradores," will be praying round-the-clock at Guadalajara parishes throughout the entire week.
The congress brings together bishops, priests and lay people from 80 countries for a full week of prayer and discussion aimed at bolstering devotion to the Eucharist worldwide. The congress includes special eucharistic processions as well as visits to the sick and imprisoned.
The congress will close Oct. 17 with another Jalisco Stadium Mass that will feature a message by the pope broadcast from the Vatican. That Mass, and one at the same time at the Vatican, will kick off a special eucharistic year that will run until Oct. 29, 2005. ---CNS |