POPE BENEDICT XVI and Archbishop Diarmuid Martin took a walk down memory lane in the Vatican yesterday morning when the archbishop introduced the pope to an Irish delegation from the International Eucharist Congress. The meeting took place outside the Vatican’s Teutonic College before the pope’s weekly Wednesday public audience.
The college is where, many years ago, the then Cardinal Ratzinger and Msgr Martin used to meet for Sunday lunch. Chatting in German to the pope yesterday, however, Archbishop Martin was looking to the future, in particular to this summer’s Eucharistic congress in Ireland.
To mark that event, the pope both blessed and then rang the Eucharistic Congress bell. In so doing, he joined the ranks of an estimated quarter of a million Irish pilgrims who have so far rung the bell in a symbolic gesture calling for renewal in the Irish church.
The pope also accepted a pre-St Patrick’s Day bowl of shamrock and a first copy of the congress commemorative medal from the the Irish delegation.
Speaking afterwards, Fr Kevin Doran, the secretary general of the 2012 international congress, said the pope had rung the bell “vigorously”. Archbishop Martin added: “To the surprise of its critics, the Eucharistic Congress is taking shape as a genuine moment of renewal in the church . . . and it is being seen as a unique opportunity for renewal of the Christian life.”
Cathedrals, churches and chapels across Ireland will ring their bells for two minutes at noon and 6pm on St Patrick’s Day, both as a symbol of renewal and as a call to prepare for the congress. The bell, which comes from a Dominican convent in Portstewart, Co Derry, has been taken to parishes throughout Ireland over the past year, as a sort of Olympic flame for the Christian message.
Months ago, Vatican authorities ruled out a visit by Pope Benedict to Ireland for the congress. Archbishop Martin confirmed this yesterday, saying the pope will instead make a live televised address to the congress in June.
The 84-year-old pope’s travel plans for 2012 envisage a trip to Cuba and Mexico, starting next week, and a trip to Lebanon in September. He already has an important engagement in early June, when he is expected to attend World Family Day in Milan.