Pope Benedict inherits Year of the Eucharist, but leaves his own mark

Published: 2005-12-09

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Although Pope Benedict XVI inherited the Year of the Eucharist and the Synod of Bishops on the Eucharist from Pope John Paul II, the new pope left his mark on both. The Year of the Eucharist ended Oct. 23 at the closing Mass of the synod -- a gathering Pope Benedict had shortened by one week while increasing the time for "free discussion" among bishops. In the preceding six months, Pope Benedict led a Corpus Christi procession in Rome, presided over a Mass for the Italian eucharistic congress and met with children who had made their first Communion in the previous year. The new pope shared his personal experience of the Eucharist and explained the central importance of the sacrament in the life of the church and of individual believers. In his homily on the May 26 feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, Pope Benedict said, "One cannot eat the risen Lord present in the figure of bread as if it were simply a piece of bread." Communion "is truly an encounter between two persons; it is allowing oneself to be penetrated by the life of the one who is Lord, the one who is my creator and redeemer," he said.

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