Now it can be told. Cebu Archbishop Jose S. Palma had apprehensions about the holding of the 51st International Eucharistic Congress in Cebu City come January 24 – 31, 2016 for many reasons, mainly logistical and organizational.
He made the disclosure during the launch of the Guide Book and Program Book of the 51st IEC held at the SM Northwing last Tuesday.
The IEC is expected to draw 15,000 delegates from all over the world and even if only 5% of the total Philippine Catholic population of 90 million would join the historic meeting, as correctly pointed out by IEC Bulletin editor Jobers Bersales, Cebu City will be groaning with at least 4.5 million more people on top of its own population during the 8-day gathering.
Think millions attending daily pontifical masses, conferences, prayer vigils, processions in and out of different IEC venues and parish churches and how this would impact on the already nightmarish traffic situation. The tab for the event is estimated at P250 million. I heard the book project alone is pegged at P11 million.
The event is grand and massive in terms of importance and magnitude that the thought alone gives Church leaders like Archbishop Palma sleepless nights and goose bumps but even that do not capture his misgivings when the Vatican announced in 2012 that the 51st IEC will be held in Cebu City.
Seven months to D-Day, Archbishop Palma revealed his apprehensions faded in April this year after the 59-man Pontifical Committee for the 51st IEC visited Cebu to evaluate local preparations and finalized plans for the biggest Church event in Asia.
To recall, Archbishop Piero Marini, President of the International Eucharistic Congresses, led other Vatican officials in visiting Cebu last April 24 – 28 to assess physical arrangements and a laundry list of provisions related to the IEC.
In between, the Cebu Archdiocese, in cooperation with local government units, offered Vatican visitors the famed Cebuano hospitality—from local culture through songs and dances, native cuisine, visit to tourist destinations including the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center to witness jailbirds rock, to several solemn masses that were always jam packed with churchgoers.
At the end of the visit, the Vatican validators gave Palma another dimension in the preparations to chew on.
More than the status of the physical provisions and arrangements, the Vatican visitors, perhaps unknown to Palma himself who might have been too focused on a hundred and one details related to the construction of the IEC Pavilion and fund-raising projects, were also attentive to the spiritual preparation of the faithful.
According to Palma, Archbishop Marini told him, “Perhaps you don’t realize how blessed you are to be with people with a faith so deep, joyful and alive.”
Palma said Marini’s words made his worries evaporate, and now despite the great challenge that still lies ahead, he is, in his own words, “very excited.”
May I lift from the Cebu prelate’s message in the debut issue of the IEC Bulletin, the part which captures his anticipation: “What seems a long shot then is now within our grasp as we are less than a year in our countdown to the Congress proper, but as we pause and look back at our preparations, we can only be one in saying that everything that we have accomplished so far has been God’s grace!”
That the excitement is felt among the local clergy is palpable when Monsignor Joseph Tan, in his own message, managed to poke fun at the crowd who attended Tuesday’s book launch—mostly nuns and priests.
Judging from the turnout, the most the Archdiocese can expect from the event is not financial support but plenty of prayers, Mons. Tan said in jest.
As the crowd laughed, the witty spokesman of the Cebu Archdiocese remarked that it is just as well because any great work for the Lord should always be preceded by prayer.
I remember the phrase, “Omnia in bonum” that leaps up from my old desktop computer. It’s Latin for “all for good” and a verse in the letter of St. Paul to the Romans (8:28) says it best: “In all things God works together with those who love him to bring about what is good.”
May we all cooperate and contribute to the success of this event of a lifetime.
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