The International Eucharistic Congress

For those who aren’t sure what exactly an International Eucharistic Congress (IEC) is, let’s set the stage for you. The first eucharistic congress was held in France back in 1881 when 300 eucharistic ministers from Europe came together. Over the last 125 years, the events evolved, ultimately bringing thousands of participants together for a full week of celebrations, adoration, catecheses, cultural events, fraternal meetings and charitable works. Each congress is preceded by a theological and pastoral symposium to explore an aspect of the Eucharistic mystery.

That’s the formal explanation – to put it in simple terms, it’s people of all ages coming from around the world to explore their faith journey and the role that the Eucharist plays in their life. This year’s theme is, “The Eucharist, Gift of God for the Life of the World.” Throughout the week, we’ll report more on what takes place, provide impressions from pilgrims and try to go “behind the scenes” to bring you a snapshot of this historic pilgrimage.

Here’s the tale of the tape – more than 11,000 people from 50 countries will take part in this week’s activities. Representatives include 40 cardinals and more than 250 bishops. 75% of those in attendance are Canadians and 15% of all participants are between 18-35 years old.

This special section of our website documents the week long festivities with the 500 pilgrims that attended the congress from the Archdciocese of Toronto.