Cardinal Ouellet invites the West to Congress

By Jeff Graham

VICTORIA -- Cardinal Marc Ouellet of Quebec City was at St. Andrew's Cathedral Sept. 15 to speak to 300 attendees on the Eucharist and the family, encouraging Eucharistic devotion and family stability and love, and inviting them to next year's Eucharistic Congress in Quebec.

Jeff Graham / The B.C. Catholic Cardinal Ouellet takes time to greet some of the many attendees after talking on the Eucharist.

Eucharistic Congress to emphasize adoration: Cardinal

Quebec City," he said. "For me this has been a Eucharistic mission. It has been a time to meet people and to share with them first and foremost the faith we have in the Eucharist."

Cardinal Ouellet hopes the 2008 Eucharistic Congress will draw pilgrims from across Canada and the world, and he recognizes the challenges involved in bringing thousands of people to a relatively small city.

"Obviously I have concerns about organizing and financing a world event involving approximately 15,000 people. In Quebec City, which is a small city, 15,000 people all of a sudden is a big number!"

Despite logistical challenges, the cardinal wants as many people as possible to come to his archdiocese in the hopes that their presence will help reinvigorate the faith among his flock and be a testimony to the universality of the Church.

"When I go on visits to promote the Eucharistic Congress I invite the faithful. I invite pilgrims to come from all the provinces of Canada, from all countries, because the Eucharistic Congress is a manifestation of the universal Church; it is a testimony of the universal Church," he said.

"We come to bear witness to the One Who is gathering us, to the One Who is bringing us together. We come together because of Him."

"It is so extraordinary to come together and to realize that we have the same faith. You come from the Philippines, or you come from Ecuador, or you come from Colombia, or from Germany, and we are all united in our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, Who is present in the Holy Eucharist. It gives us a sense of the unity of humanity."

Those unable to attend the Congress in person will be able to follow the entire proceedings via the conference web site, www.cei2008.ca, listening to it in English, Spanish, and French. Cardinal Ouellet said the conference might be "the first truly universal Eucharistic congress, because anyone with Internet access can follow it."

The tradition of Eucharistic congresses started in France in 1882. Cardinal Ouellet explained that the Congress was originally meant to counteract many of the harmful philosophies that were making their way through French culture.

"It was a difficult time," he said. "There was a sort of welling influence of atheism, naturalism, and a sort of negation of spiritualism, and so it was important to bear witness to spiritual values and the presence of the Lord."

Eucharistic congresses have been held every two or three years since then, with one taking place in Montreal in 1910, the only International Eucharistic Congress in Canada in the 20th century. The 2008 Eucharistic Congress will being held on the 400th anniversary of the city of Quebec, a city that was largely founded by strong, Eucharist-centred families.

Cardinal Ouellet hopes the Eucharist is discovered in a new way by those who attend the Congress.

"The emphasis of this Congress will be on adoration," he said. "The first aspect of the Eucharistic Congress is to come together and to celebrate, the second aspect is to receive catechesis."

"The universal challenge today is to relocate the treasure of the Eucharist" he said. "Through the Holy Eucharist, the message is that Christ is risen!"

The Eucharist, he said, is needed to reinvigorate the faith life of Catholics in Canada and to overturn the culture of death which seems constantly to gain strength.

"As an archbishop in Quebec, I tell you, we need you. We need your fervent prayers that the Congress will re-enliven the faith and the ecclesial life of people in Canada, especially the people of Quebec. I am convinced that it is time to overturn the dominion of this culture of death, where abortion and euthanasia are at the forefront."

The cardinal also stressed that a renewal of North American culture must begin with the family, which he said has suffered greatly.

"Under the pressure of the sexual revolution, marriage and family have been relegated to a secondary option," he said. "North America has undergone radical secularization, where institutions like the family are partly destroyed. Our heritage is being destroyed, and I see it as a very serious threat and challenge for the future.

"The sense of self-sacrifice and definitive commitment seems to have vanished from our times. To get married, and to stay together, you need more than the sentiment of love; you also need the commitment of love and the will. The victims of all this are our children, and it is contributing to the collapse of the Christian culture."

While the situation is serious, Cardinal Ouellet thinks there is an answer.

"We must rebuild this world with the message of the Church, the presence of the Church, and the mission of the Church, and the family is the key to the future mission of the Church. The family must be something that is grounded on faith so that it can be a missionary presence in the world today, and the family has the mission to guard, redeem, and communicate love, and this is the reflection of God's love for humanity."

"Love is not just an accident; it is essential for the realization of the human being," he said. "Love is also accomplished in a special way in the family. Love is not just an ideal; it is grace, it is something that is given. We need to be aware of the beautiful mystery of Christian marriage and family."