The first National Eucharistic Congress has been in the planning for nearly a year and is the initiative of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands. This will take place in the Archdiocese of Mount Hagen from 12 – 15 December 2024. During the days there will be prayers, adoration, processions with the Blessed Sacrament and talks on topics relating to the Holy Eucharist.
The National Eucharistic Congress in Mount Hagen is expected to draw some thousands of people, including bishops, priests and seminarians, as well as consecrated religious men and women, in addition to the lay faithful in the Church, not to mention all those who will participate online via Livestream with NBC, the official broadcaster.
While reflecting on different conferences for the youths or family life or social communication all of which were extraordinary moments of grace, I believe the first National Eucharistic Congress in Mount Hagen will supersede them all. The NEC will assemble the whole Church together, the young and the old, cleric, religious and lay, and everything in between. It will be the entire Body of Christ coming together for prayer, unity and friendship in the Holy Eucharist.
From the Dioceses of Madang, Lae, and Dioceses in highlands region of Wabag, Kundiawa, Mendi, and Goroka there will be more expected pilgrims who will travel to Mount Hagen by car and bus. Their pilgrim groups will have representation from the whole dioceses. There will be several families, in addition to priests, deacons, and seminarians, and a large representation of consecrated religious sisters and brothers. It will be the Church in all her beauty and diversity.
In this age of technology and globalization which has swept through Papua New Guinea in mostly negative ways, the NEC will be a moment of healing of this land and all its people.
The talks will include priests and a bishop who are theologians and are most popular and effective speakers in the Church of Papua New Guinea. Every evening will conclude with Eucharistic adoration in the compound of the Archdiocesan Headquarters of Rebiamul. It is expected the music will be absolutely stunning: all forms, from Gregorian chant and polyphony to contemporary, and the beautiful natural melodies of Papua New Guineans will fill the air in praise and thanksgiving for the great gift of Christ’s real presence in the Most Blessed Sacrament.
The heart of the National Eucharistic Congress will be the liturgy, which is the source and summit of our faith. The faithful will experience this first hand in the various expressions of the Church’s liturgy that will be offered so beautifully, but also in the tremendous fruits of the liturgical source: the talks, praise-and-worship sessions, works of charity expressed in many forms — including the beautiful accompaniment of the dioceses from outside the highland’s region and their needs. Also flowing from the liturgy will be the palpable community of faith among clerics, religious, consecrated and laity that spontaneously will grow out of the common experience and, uniquely for many bishops, the brotherhood of episcopal charity there felt which will be unprecedented.
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