Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Chimbote (Agenzia Fides) - With the slogan “Jesus gave himself for us that we might have life in Him" the Catholic Church in Peru will hold its 9th National Eucharistic Congress from 25 - 30 August in Chimbote. During the event there will be the consecration of Peru to the Blessed Virgin Mary and the consecration of the new Cathedral of Chimbote dedicated to Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Saint Peter. Important guests for the occasion will include Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Pope's secretary of state; Cardinal Francisco Javier Errázuriz Ossa Archbishop of Santiago de Chile president of the Council of Latin American Bishops' Conferences; Cardinal Julio Terrazas, Archbishop of Santa Croce, Bolivia; Cardinal Óscar Rodríguez Madariaga, Archbishop of Tegucigalpa, Honduras; Cardinal Carlos Amigo Vallejo, Archbishop of Seville Spain. Participants will include 20 bishops from other countries, 70 Peruvian bishops, 45 delegations from all over Peru, 500 priests 300 religious and some 1,500 participants at the National Theological Conference.
The Congress programme will begin on Saturday 25 August with an Ordinary Assembly of the Bishops of Peru and then a meeting of all the Bishops with Cardinal Bertone. In the afternoon the Eucharistic Congress will open followed by all night adoration in every parish. On Sunday 26 the Cathedral will be consecrated and dedicated to Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Saint Peter in the presence of the Cardinals, bishops, priests, religious and pastoral workers from all over the country and the Catholic community of the diocese of Chimbote. Again there will be all night adoration in the Cathedral. Monday 27 August will be dedicated to the family, 28 and 29 August to workers and the world of work. On Thursday 30 August there will be the closing Mass in Piazza d’Armi followed by a procession with the Blessed Sacrament which will conclude with the consecration of Peru to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Themes of conferences during the Congress will include: "Christian Initiation: Baptism and Eucharist" (Bishop Ricardo Blázquez Pérez of Bilbao president of the Spanish Bishops' Conference); "Eucharist Bread of Life for the Disciples of Christ " (Cardinal Carlos Amigo Vallejo Archbishop of Seville); "Family and Eucharist" (Bishop Nikola Eterovic, secretary general of the Synod of Bishops in the Vatican); "Called to the Table of the Word and the Eucharist" (Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani, Archbishop of Lima); "Sacramentum Caritatis" (Bishop Miguel Cabrejos Vidarte president of the Bishops' Conference of Peru); "Young people and the Eucharist" (Cardinal Óscar A. Rodriguez Maradiaga); "The continental Mission" (Bishop José Luis Lacunza Maestrojuan, O.A.R. of David, president of the Bishops' Conference of Panama); "The Mission of the Disciple " (Archbishop Jorge E. Jiménez Carvajal of Cartagena - Colombia); "The Mission of the Family and the world of work" (Bishop Andrés Stanovnik, CELAM secretary general); "Work and the Eucharist" (Cardinal Francisco Javier Errázuriz, CELAM president). (RG) (Agenzia Fides 28/6/2007; righe 37, parole 479)
