CEBU CITY, Philippines – Held every 4 years, the International Eucharistic Congress (IEC) is one of the biggest events in the Catholic Church. Cebu City is hosting the IEC from January 24 to 31, with 15,000 delegates expected.
During the IEC, high-caliber Catholic speakers discuss their most important form of worship: the Eucharist, better known as the Mass.
The speakers also discuss the “social dimension” of the Eucharist, as Catholics believe that prayer doesn’t end inside the church building. Previous IECs, in fact, even touched on topics such as capitalism and human trafficking. (READ: IEC: The event that helped make Tagle a ‘papabile’)
The list of IEC speakers includes the following:
- Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle
- Cotabato Archbishop Orlando Cardinal Quevedo
- New York Archbishop Timothy Cardinal Dolan
- Former Dominican head and now Vatican consultor Fr Timothy Radcliffe
- Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop Robert Barron
The full schedule for Day 4, January 27, 2016:
This is the second time the IEC is happening in the Philippines.
Manila hosted the IEC when it was first held in the Philippines in 1937. (READ: First IEC in PH: Cardinal Vidal’s First Communion, too)
Watch the livestream of the IEC here. – Rappler.com