By Verghese V Joseph –
Due to the current COVID-18 health situation and its consequences on the movement and aggregation of faithful and pilgrims, the Holy Father, together with the Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses and with the Hungarian Episcopate, has decided to postpone the 52nd International Eucharistic Congress, scheduled in Budapest next September 2020, to September 2021.
Given the world pandemic crises and its consequences, Pope Frances, in consultation with the Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses and with the organisers of the Catholic World Meeting – decided on postponing the 52nd International Eucharistic Congress scheduled for September 2020, by one year. Due to the travelling bans and difficulties, as well as to the gathering restrictions, The Holy See has adopted a similar decision in relation to the Family World Meeting, scheduled for June 2010 in Rome. The World Youth Day of 2022, planned to be organised in Lisbon is going to be held one year later, in August 2023.
The 2020 International Eucharistic Congress was supposed to be the 52nd edition of the International Eucharistic Congress (IEC) and scheduled to place in 2020 in Budapest, Hungary. The one-week event held regularly since 1881 (every four years in recent times) celebrates the Real presence of Christ in the Eucharist according to the teaching of the Catholic Church.
This is the second time that Hungary was supposed to host the International Eucharistic Congress, with the first one also held in Budapest in 1938. Cardinal Péter Erdő, Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest sees a great significance for the Catholic Church in Hungary in hosting the event, which is an introduction towards the world.
Budapest was named the host city by Pope Francis in January 2016, at the end of the 2016 International Eucharistic Congress held in Cebu City, Philippines.
The official start of the preparation was marked by a four-day visit of archbishop Piero Marini, president of the Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses.