National Eucharistic Congress opens

Receiving Holy Communion meant entering into a profound spiritual union with the Body of Christ and with everybody else - our loved ones, both dead and alive, our friends and enemies, Liturgical Commission president Mgr Arthur Said Pullicino, said yesterday.

"It is important that we ask: What effect does the Eucharist have on our lives? How am I changing when I move towards the Eucharist? What effect is it having on my relations with those around me, my enemy, the person who causes me harm," Mgr Said Pullicino asked when addressing the congregation gathered at St John's Co-Cathedral, in Valletta yesterday evening.

Mass was held to mark the opening of the National Eucharistic Congress, which includes a series of meetings for priests, nuns and lay people between today and Thursday at the Archbishop's Seminary in Tal-Virtù.

The congress is being organised by the Archdiocese of Malta and the Diocese of Gozo on the occasion of the Year of the Eucharist. Archbishop Joseph Mercieca was unable to attend yesterday's Mass, which was led by Apostolic Nuncio Felix del Blanco Prieto.

Mgr Said Pullicino told the congregation that all Christians were called to publicly give witness to their belief in the Eucharistic mystery.

Mass was followed by a procession along several streets in Valletta.

The congress brings to mind the International Eucharistic Congress held in Malta in April 1913. Other Eucharistic congresses were held in Gozo in 1929 and in Malta in 1938 to mark the silver jubilee of the International Eucharistic Congress of 1913.