Bishop Invites DR Congo Catholics to “massively participate” in June Eucharistic Congress

Butembo-Beni, 11 May, 2023 / 8:44 PM

The Bishop of Butembo-Beni Diocese in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is calling upon Catholics to “massively participate” in the planned third National Eucharistic Congress.

In a statement issued Tuesday, May 9, Bishop Melchisedec Sikuli Paluku invites parishioners to plan for Eucharistic adoration during the June 4-11 event “in union with the Christians who will be in Lubumbashi.”

“We are all invited to massively participate in this Eucharistic Congress scheduled for June this year,” Bishop Melchisedec Sikuli Paluku says in reference to the congress to be held in Lubumbashi Archdiocese under the theme “Eucharist and family.”

Bishop Sikuli encourages those with means to travel to Lubumbashi, and that those who have identified a host family “should hurry to go to Lubumbashi and they will be received as Catholic Christians.”

The June 4-11 National Eucharistic Congress, the third one in the Central African nation, had been postponed from June 2020 to a later date due to COVID-19 restrictions.

The first-ever National Eucharistic Congress in DRC was held in Kisantu, in the Western part of the country in 1933. The country’s capital, Kinshasa, hosted the second spiritual event in 1980.

In April, Pope Francis appointed Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, the Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, as his special envoy to the June 4-11 Eucharistic Congress.

Earlier, members of the National Episcopal Conference of Congo (CENCO) had expressed their desire to see Pope Francis grace the spiritual event.

“We wish to see the Holy Father Pope Francis take part in these meetings,” Bishop Sikuli was quoted as saying in a September 2019 report, adding, “We hope that Pope Francis will visit Congo on this occasion; it would be a good thing for us.”

In the September 2019 report, Bishop Sikuli is said to have sensitized the faithful about the Congress, saying that it is “an opportunity to show our faith in the Eucharist, which is the sign of the presence of the dead and risen Jesus, who is in our midst.”

“This great ecclesial event of high spiritual significance will be for the Church-Family of God in the DRC a strong time of prayer and spiritual renewal,” the Congolese Bishop said.