Pope announces year dedicated to the Eucharist for 2004-2005

Published: 2004-06-11

ROME (CNS) -- Pope John Paul II announced a special year dedicated to the Eucharist, saying the church needs to highlight its importance for spiritual life and missionary tasks of the 21st century. The eucharistic year will begin with the International Eucharistic Congress in Guadalajara, Mexico, this Oct. 10-17 and will end with the Synod of Bishops on the Eucharist in Rome Oct. 2-29, 2005, the pope said. The pope made the announcement June 10, the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, during a Mass at the Rome Basilica of St. John Lateran. Afterward he led a traditional eucharistic procession through the streets of Rome, while seated in the back of a modified flatbed truck. The pope last year wrote an encyclical on the Eucharist, emphasizing its centrality for every aspect of church life.

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