A view of the Opera House in the port zone of Sydney. / Credit: Benh LIEU SONG vía Flickr (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Quito, Ecuador, Sep 16, 2024 / 14:25 pm (CNA).

The 53rd International Eucharistic Congress in Quito, Ecuador, wrapped up on Sunday with the announcement that Sydney will host the next International Eucharistic Congress in 2028.

The announcement was made by Cardinal Baltazar Porras, archbishop emeritus of Caracas, Venezuela, and pontifical legate to this year’s International Eucharistic Congress.

As part of the closing Mass in Quito, presided over by Porras, the prelate declared: “In the name and by mandate of Pope Francis, he announces to you that the 54th International Eucharistic Congress will take place in the city of Sydney” in 2028.

Sydney was the site of the 29th International Eucharistic Congress in 1928.

Role of the Eucharist in the Church in Sydney

In a video shown at the event, Archbishop Anthony Fisher of Sydney said he was “delighted to invite you all to our port city in 2028 ... 100 years after Sydney hosted this great event.” 

“The history of the Catholic faith in Sydney is in many ways a story of the power of the Eucharist in building the Church of God from humble beginnings,” he recalled, noting that “at the beginning of our city’s colonial period, in the times when there was no clergy and Catholic worship was prohibited, it was the Blessed Sacrament contained in a pyx in the house of a layman that supported the faithful.”

The host, he noted, was left there by Father Jeremiah O’Flynn “before his deportation” and “served as the center of our first Catholic community. There, in a small room in a simple house, men, women, and children gathered to worship the presence of the Lord among them.”

‘A great occasion of grace’

In a statement to ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, Sydney Auxiliary Bishop Danny Meagher assured that “we need life in the Church of Sydney to flourish. Archbishop Anthony Fisher, recognizing the importance of the International Eucharistic Congress, hopes that it will be a great success, not only for Sydney and Australia but also for all who participate.”

“We hope it will be a great occasion of grace for all attendees so that they return home with a true sense of grace, formed and transformed by what they have learned,” he said.

The prelate pointed out that “the challenge for us is to organize a very good International Eucharistic Congress, and I would measure success if we manage to have people’s hearts touched and their minds open to the richness of the Eucharist, entering into God.”

“Christ gives us his life, introduces us to his paschal mystery, and sends us into the world. Through quality presentations that touch the mind with good theology, and also connect with the heart and spirit through good liturgy and entertainment, we seek to get people truly engaged,” he said.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.