On the 80th Anniversary of THE Eucharistic Congress held in Dublin in 1932, the Fiftieth International Eucharistic Congress will be held in Dublin, Ireland. The Holy Father has announced the theme for the Congress will be:

"The Eucharist: Communion with Christ and with one another".

In 1932 the Irish State issued a set of commemorative stamps to mark the occasion of the Congress, which was a time of immense grace for the newly independent Ireland.

As part of your preparation for the forthcoming Congress, I urge you to voice your support for the issuing of another set of commemorative stamps in 2012 to mark the 50th Eucharistic Congress and the 80th Anniversary of the Eucharistic Congress of 1932.

You can send your suggestion to:

Secretary of the Philatelic Advisory Committee,
An Post,
Ground Floor,
GPO,
Dublin 1,
Ireland.

Or by e-mailing: pac@anpost.ie

You could also write to the Chairman of An Post, Mr. John Fitzgerald, or to the Chief Executive of An Post, Mr. Donal Connell, at:

An Post,
Ground Floor,
GPO,
Dublin 1,
Ireland.

The general e-mail for An Post is: customer.services@anpost.ie.

God bless the work!

Blessed be Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar!

The Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses has just announced that the next International Eucharistic Congress, the fiftieth of the series, will take place from 10 to 17 June 2012 in Dublin, Ireland, on the theme: 'The Eucharist: Communion with Christ and with one another'.

"The choice of theme arises from the fact that the celebration of the congress coincides with the 50th anniversary of the inauguration of Vatican Council II which, as Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin has affirmed, was a moment of renewal for the Church's teaching and for her understanding of herself as Body of Christ and Body of God", the communique explains.

The theme has its direct inspiration in paragraph 7 of the Constitution 'Lumen gentium' which reads: 'Really partaking of the body of the Lord in the breaking of the Eucharistic bread, we are taken up into communion with Him and with one another. 'Because the bread is one, we though many, are one body, all of us who partake of the one bread'. In this way all of us are made members of His Body, 'but severally members one of another'".

The communique goes on: "The archbishop of Dublin has also emphasised the possibility of developing the theme of the next International Eucharistic Congress by reflecting on certain important topics such as: communion with Christ as a foundation for Christian life; the Eucharist as a way of life for clergy, Christian families and religious communities; the gesture of 'breaking bread' as a principle of Christian solidarity; the Eucharist, seed of life for the world of suffering and fragility; and ecumenism and the sharing of the one bread".

The Dundalk John Paul II Prayer Group & Armagh Diocesan Cursillo are appealing to anyone from Ireland who has attended the 2008 International Eucharistic Congress in Quebec to get in touch with us as soon as possible.

Email: jp2dundalk@hotmail.com or
dundalkcursillo@yahoo.ie

It is our hope to start organising a series of events in preparation for the upcoming 2012 Eucharistic Congress to be held in Dublin. We would like to hear from anyone (living in Ireland) who has attended a Eucharistic Congress, who might be interested in sharing their experiences with us.