At 4 o’clock this coming Sunday, January 24, thousands will converge at Plaza Independencia for the Holy Mass to officially open the 51st International Eucharistic Congress. Among them are the nearly 10,000 Catholic priests, religious and laity who have registered as of this writing, will participate in this quadrennial gathering.
Assuming all of them will arrive on Sunday, one can only imagine the spectacle before all of Cebu at the plaza. My good friend Engr. Junjet Primor, who has handled numerous events including the Ms. Cebu Pageant and the Sinulog Festival, faces a logistical nightmare possibly of Biblical proportions. Fortunately, he has much experience handling events of great magnitude. And he will be paired with Val Sandiego, also no stranger to the Sinulog and performances involving a large audience. I have no doubt that Msgr. Agustin Ancajas, chair of the 51st IEC Events Committee, who will oversee the opening salvo, is on tenterhooks as the day draws near.
It is one thing to help oversee the publication of documents needed for the congress, like the IEC Program Guide and the IEC Basic Text which Fr. Jojo de Aquino, Cheryl Judilla and a host of others have successfully shepherded days ahead of the congress. It is another to not only watch over every event lined up during next week’s once-in-a-lifetime event for Cebu and so I must wish Nyor Ting all the best in both health and success.
After the opening ceremonies at the Plaza, a tour of museums and heritage sites around Parian will follow while the first of a series of IEC choral presentations will simultaneously happen at the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral. Both heritage tour and choral event have limited seats and participation opportunities so it would be wise for everyone to plot their schedules carefully.
The following day, Monday, January 25, the congress plenary session and break-up sessions will formally open at the newly-constructed IEC Pavilion within the San Carlos Seminary compound, or what is now called the IEC Village. This is where the 10,000 or so delegates will spend most of each morning and part of the afternoon until the closing program, the “Statio Orbis,” which will be held on Sunday, January 31, at the South Road Properties, very near SM Seaside City. Early estimates are that a million Catholics will converge at SRP for this closing event, in which it is expected that Pope Francis will speak either in a recorded message or, if a miracle happens, personally. For now, his personal presence is not expected and he has sent his special legate or representative, Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, SDB, Archbishop of Yangon, Myanmar (formerly Burma).
(Because of Supertyphoon Yolanda and the October 2013 earthquake before it, what was originally planned to coincide with a papal visit is going to proceed without the Pope. But make no mistake, the Pope personally chose January 24-31, 2016, for the 51st IEC, a date not normally expected for IECs which are always held somewhere in May or June. Had these tragic calamities not happened, he would have been in Cebu for this event.)
Many more events will transpire every evening during the entire week and a cross-over to Lapu-Lapu City will happen on Thursday, January 28, when youth delegates will stay at the Hoops Dome for an overnight vigil and then proceed the following day to Mandani Bay at the Mandaue North Reclamation Area.
A total of 22 speakers and resource persons have been carefully chosen to speak at the daily congresses, among them Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of Manila and Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York. These two are apparently among the most awaited of the speakers.
I believe the local dailies will be announcing events that will transpire throughout each day and I therefore urge everyone to read and plan their activities so as to avoid being inconvenienced by road closures during the entire week. An important one to take note is the First Communion of 5,000 boys and girls, which will be held at the Cebu City Sports Center/Complex on Friday, January 29.
I wish I can show photos of the 33rd IEC in 1937, which was held in Manila. Seeing those images of the crowds that gathered there at the Luneta 79 years ago, I can just imagine the huge numbers of people converging and moving around Cebu next week.
Ready or not, Cebu, the IEC is finally upon us.
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