EUCHARISTIC CONGRESSES: EXPERIENCES OF FAITH AND PRAYER

VATICAN CITY, MAR 22, 2002 (VIS) - This morning the Pope received members of the Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses who gathered during these days with their president, Cardinal Jozef Tomko, in order to plan the committee's activities.

After thanking those present for their effort to "promote Eucharistic devotion in the whole Church", the Holy Father said: "The Eucharistic Congresses constitute important experiences of faith and intense prayer, because they offer the opportunity to many believers to contemplate Christ's face mysteriously hidden in the sacrament of the Eucharistic."

"You know very well," he concluded, "how important eucharistic devotion is for the life of the Church and for spreading the Gospel. The Eucharist contains the most beautiful spiritual good of the Christian community which is the same Christ who sacrificed himself on the cross for the salvation of humanity. Therefore, continue with determination and enthusiasm in this noble work."

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