Eucharistic Congress will revive Christian roots, says Ouellet

Church primate says 2008 gathering is a grace for our country

Cardinal Marc Oulette

By DEBORAH GYAPONG
Canadian Catholic News
Montreal

Cardinal Marc Ouellet hopes next year's International Eucharistic Congress in Quebec City will revive Canada's Christian roots and reverse the effects of secularization.

"I believe the Lord of history is inviting us to bear witness to his love and to challenge the forces of dissolution that are challenging our culture," said Ouellet, archbishop of Quebec and primate of the Church in Canada.

"This congress is a grace for our country," he said. There is a need to recover the depth and beauty of the Church's mission and to deepen the Gospel vision of a culture of love.

Ouellet, former rector of St. Joseph Seminary in Edmonton, was speaking to the 600 delegates at the national convention of the Catholic Women's League Aug. 13.

The congress, set for June 15-22, will coincide with the 400th anniversary of the founding of Quebec City. Quebec is also Canada's oldest diocese, through which missionaries went on to evangelize the whole continent.

Ouellet said he hopes the congress will "give new life to the consciousness of the Christian roots of our country.

"We've been blessed from the beginning with the gift of saints. Fourteen have been beatified or canonized in the last 40 years," he said. "Not many countries have so wonderful a story to tell the whole world."

Pope invited

Pope Benedict has been invited. Ouellet said it will be clear by Christmas whether he will come.

The cardinal spoke as well of "great efforts" to involve youth, describing it a "big challenge, especially in Canada, for handing on the faith and also religious practices and devotions to the next generation."

Three youth summits have been held since the spring of 2005, each one growing considerably in size. The first youth summit generated the idea of a symbolic object to travel around the country like the World Youth Day Cross. That suggestion resulted in the beautifully crafted Ark of the New Covenant, which is travelling throughout Canada in advance of the congress.

Ouellet said the time has come to overturn the dominance of what Pope John Paul II called the culture of death. Instead of a globalization of alienation and injustice, he said he hopes to see the globalization of charity, solidarity and of the "unity of mankind in Jesus Christ."

Ouellet said he has seen "signs from God" indicating a time for Eucharistic renewal. One sign came through nine-year-old Jeremy Gabriel, who "spent half his life in hospital" for operations to correct the effects of Treacher Collins syndrome, a rare genetic disease. Though deaf, with the help of an implant, he can hear well enough to sing beautifully.

In October 2005, the boy sang the national anthem at a Montreal Canadiens hockey game. He caused a media sensation, and when journalists asked him what he wished for, Jeremy said he wanted to sing before the pope as a way of saying thank you to Jesus who had helped him in his suffering.

Ouellet arranged for Jeremy and his family to join the Quebec bishops' ad limina visit to Rome in May 2006. Jeremy and his family were present when the pope blessed the Ark of the New Covenant. At that ceremony, Jeremy's wish came true and he sang before the pope.

Joyful moment

Ouellet said he will never forget how moving it was to hear the boy sing "I will praise the eternal with all of my heart."

"There were no dry eyes," he said, noting that even the Swiss Guards were moved and spontaneously offered the boy a medal.

The news media covered the story with great sympathy, he said, at the same time providing "great publicity" for the upcoming congress.

The cardinal saw the hand of God in this.

He noted the boy's first name Jeremy is like that of Jeremiah, the prophet of the New Covenant, and his family's name is Gabriel, the same as the angel who announced the birth of the Messiah. He said the boy's mother had been pressured to get an abortion, but she chose to keep him out of respect for human life.

Ouellet said Jeremy was chosen by God to affirm the sacredness of human life and "to be the prophet of the 2008 congress."

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