Print Issue: February 14, 2002

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By Gretchen Keiser, Staff Writer

ATLANTA-Vatican Cardinal Jozef Tomko and Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo, apostolic nuncio to the United States, plan to take part in the Eucharistic Congress in the archdiocese June 1 for the feast of Corpus Christi. Cardinal Tomko is expected to open the day at the Georgia International Convention Center, which will begin with a eucharistic procession and Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, where he will be the homilist. Archbishop Montalvo is also expected to take part in the opening procession and attend the daylong congress. He is scheduled to be principal celebrant and homilist for the closing Mass, which will be the vigil Mass for Corpus Christi Sunday. A close advisor to Pope John Paul II, Cardinal Tomko, who is Slovakian, served for almost 16 years as prefect of the Vatican Congregation for the Evangeli-zation of Peoples, the church's top missionary post. The congregation is responsible for coordinating church activities in missionary territories, especially (Continued on page 2) (Continued from page 1) Africa and Asia. The pope accepted his retirement from that post in April 2001 at the age of 77. Cardinal Tomko continues actively serving the pope and the universal church. He addressed the annual meeting of the U.S. bishops held in Atlanta in June 2001 on the importance of deepening a missionary consciousness in the whole church and particularly for the church in the United States to evangelize inside and outside the country. Archbishop Montalvo, 72, is a native of Bogota, Colombia, who has had broad experience as a diplomat for the Vatican in countries dealing with violence and church-state tensions. Named president of the Pontifical Ecclesial Academy, which trains Vatican diplomats, in 1993, he was then appointed as the top Vatican diplomatic representative to the United States in December 1998. A speaker of Spanish, French, English, Italian and German, Archbishop Montalvo successfully mediated a dispute between Argentina and Chile over the Beagle Channel from 1979-84 that averted a war. Ordained to the priesthood in 1953, he began serving in the Vatican diplomatic corps in 1957 and has served in countries in Eastern Europe, Central America and North Africa. He was pro-nuncio to Yugoslavia from 1986-96. The congress will be held at the Georgia International Convention Center in College Park, near the airport, and will include speakers for a general track and for Hispanic and teen tracks. There will also be separate planned sessions for middle-schoolers and for children. All the tracks will have limited seating capacities. The Eucharistic Congress planning committee is working in cooperation with Clayton County and College Park officials on the permitted seating capacities in the various tracks. Last year an estimated 12,000 people attended the Corpus Christi event. In addition to the indoor seating, the general session this year will be televised outdoors on a large screen. There will be an outdoor village area in front of the convention center, with vendors, book tables, food and drinks, along with activities for children such as musicians, face-painting, and Christian performance artists. Speakers for the general session include Scott and Kimberly Hahn, Catholic apologists and authors, Father John Corapi, SOLT, and Alex C. Jones. Music will be led by Mary Welch Rogers and Ed Bolduc. Speakers in the teen session include Msgr. Richard Lopez of the Archdiocese of Atlanta and Jim Beckman, who leads Steubenville summer conferences and LIFE TEEN for the Rockies region. Youth minister Brian K. Johnson from the Diocese of Galveston-Houston, Texas, will also speak. Music will be provided by Tom Booth of LIFE TEEN International and Ed Bolduc and Band. The Hispanic track speakers will include Msgr. Arturo Bañuelas of El Paso, Texas, and Father Pablo Staub, CSsR, missionary priest in Mexico. Father Albert Cutié of the Archdiocese of Miami will speak in both the Hispanic and teen sessions. Tickets, which are free, will be distributed through the parishes through a lottery system. Pastors who requested tickets will receive them in late February or early March and parishioners can request them from the pastor. For those people whose parish chooses not to participate in the lottery system, tickets can be obtained by contacting the archdiocese directly. To obtain a ticket send a stamped, self-addressed envelope to: Sally Scardasis, Archdiocese of Atlanta, 680 West Peachtree St., N.W., Atlanta, Ga. 30308. Please note the number of tickets requested. Those who plan to attend are encouraged to arrive at the convention center early on June 1 or to stay the previous night at the Sheraton Gateway Hotel. The hotel, located in the same complex, will provide discounted rates for those attending the conference. To reserve a room for May 31, those interested should call (800) 784-9400 and ask for the Archdiocese of Atlanta room rate. The rate for a single room is $91 and a double room is $101. These rates are subject to applicable taxes, which are currently 12 percent per room and are subject to change without notice. Rooms must be booked by May 10 to secure this rate. Also, please e-mail Sally Scardasis at sscardasis@archatl.com or Mary Elkins at melkins@archatl.com to inform the archdiocese that participants have reserved a room. For information call Scardasis at (404) 885-7445.