The XXVII National Eucharistic Assembly is taking place in Matera, Italy. Pope Francis will go to the city on 25 September, the last day of the assembly, for the closing Mass of the Eucharistic Assembly.
(Vatican News Network)The 27th National Eucharistic Congress was held in Matera from 22 to 25 September, promoted by the Italian Episcopal Conference, with the theme “Return to the taste of bread: Eucharist and Church of communion”. Pope Francis will go to Matera on the last day of the congress to preside over the closing Mass of the Eucharistic Assembly.
Giuseppe Caiazzo, Archbishop of Matera, said in an interview with this news network: “It is a great pleasure for our diocese to be able to host this Eucharistic Assembly. We started this process two years ago. This project was completely in the middle of a pandemic and people lived in extreme fear. So we needed something to help us start a full life again. The symbol of Matera bread immediately came to mind, because in its realization it included the whole theory of theology and Christology of the Trinity “.
Monsignor Caiazzo gave an example of how our mothers and grandmothers, when preparing to make bread, recite a prayer to the Holy Trinity, then wrap the dough in a tablecloth and leave it. Women would say that the bread “should rise well, grow well, as Jesus Christ did in the house of Nazareth.” “This bread has the shape of a heart, and shows only God’s love for us, and we go to meet the Lord”. The archbishop of Matera went on to say that the dioceses of Italy are participating in the process of fraternity, and the taste of pasta is to return to the Eucharist, that is, to put Christ at the center of faith.
Pope Francis will arrive at the Matera Stadium around 8:30 am on 25 September, where he will be welcomed by Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi, president of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, by the archbishop of Matera and by the mayor. The Pope will preside over the Holy Mass there before returning to the Vatican.
Mons.Caiazzo recalled the moment in which the Pope presided the Mass for the national Eucharist in Matera. He said: “Due to the elections in Italy that day, we have appropriately adapted the itinerary of the Pope’s visit and moved the time of mass to 9 in order to allow time for the faithful to return home to vote. Pope Francis is the second person to visit us. It is a great joy for us to be the successor of Peter in the city. The first Pope to visit Matera was Saint John Paul II, in 1991 “. The archbishop said that, despite the difficulties, Pope Francis has always shown his determination for the visit, “for which I thank him from the bottom of my heart”.
Monsignor Caiazzo concluded that 180 diocesan delegations and more than 100 bishops participated in this National Eucharistic Assembly.
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