Wow Thousands Attend the 53rd International Eucharistic Congress in Quito and 1,600 Children Receive 1st Communion!

Delegations from all continents arrived in Quito to participate in the great “Eucharistic Feast” that began today, on the esplanade of Bicentennial Park. From the early hours of this Sunday, hundreds of faithful people were arriving to be protagonists and witnesses of this unforgettable and unrepeatable ecclesial event.

The solemn Eucharistic celebration, which officially inaugurated the 53rd International Eucharistic Congress, was presided over by the Metropolitan Archbishop of Quito and Primate of Ecuador, Monsignor Alfredo José Espinoza Mateus, sdb. The inaugural Mass was concelebrated by the Apostolic Nuncio in Ecuador, Monsignor Andrés Carrascosa Coso; the Bishop Delegate of Spain, Monsignor Leonardo Lemos; Monsignor David de la Torre, ss.cc., ​​Auxiliary Bishop of Quito, and the Auxiliary Bishop of Sydney, Monsignor Richard Umbers.

In the celebration, dozens of bishops from abroad and from Ecuador participated with priests, deacons, seminarians and hundreds of religious men and women; along with more than 1,600 boys who received their First Communion and thousands of Catholic faithful who filled the esplanade of the Bicentennial Park, which this morning became a Eucharistic Field.
For the Archbishop of Quito, “the Face of God” as we affectionately call the city, is the meeting place for all continents to gather together to reflect on and live the great Mystery of the Eucharist.”
He added that the Eucharist “challenges us to be true builders of Fraternity to “heal the wounds of the World” and commits us to be authentically brothers in the midst of a world full of violence, death, wars; a world that divides, not a world that unites; a world that turns man into an enemy and not a brother.”
Quoting a verse from the official hymn of the 53rd International Eucharistic Congress, he said that “From Ecuador, to the entire world, we announce: Jesus, you are the life.”
“This memory will remain engraved in their hearts for a lifetime and they will be able to say with certainty that they are the “Eucharistic missionaries” of our Church in Quito and grow knowing that they are called to build the Fraternity, beginning in their own families,” he added.
To highlight the importance of the Sacrament of the Eucharist, the Archbishop of Quito recalled the words of Pope Francis, who said: “First Communion is above all a celebration in which we celebrate that Jesus wanted to always stay by our side and that He will never separate from us.”
In opening this International Eucharistic Congress he said, “let us ask the Lord to work in our lives the same miracle that He did with the deaf man who could barely speak. Yes, Lord, we want to hear Your word telling us “Effetá”, that is, “Open up”. May our hearts always be open, but above all, may our ears be open to hear the cries of pain of the whole world, the cries of those who suffer and the cries of the poor. He concluded saying that, “may we, from the Eucharist, be authentic “missionaries of Fraternity”, to heal and to work the miracle of all being one”.
Source: Press Release from https://www.iec2024.ec/en/todos-los-continentes-reunidos-en-quito-para-vivir-la-gran-fiesta-eucaristica/