10 – 18 June 2012
Participating in the 50th International Eucharistic Congress and visting the Focolare Community
Maria Voce has been invited to give her testimony at the 50th International Eucharistic Congress held in Dublin and organized by the Irish Catholic Church. The president of the Focolare Movement will also meet the Focolare community in this country.
“The Eucharist: Communion with Christ and with one another” is the theme for the 50th edition of this international congress. The Church of Ireland has been preparing for this event since 2008, immediately after the Pope announced its venue at the conclusion of the International Eucharistic Congress held in Quebec. The Movements have been involved in this preparation from the very start, and the Focolare Movement has been giving its full support, collaborating in various ways during the gradual setting up. A television advert about the Congress shows some of the work carried out during this preparation. The president of the Focolare Movement will address the Congress on Monday 11th June at 15.00hrs.
The Movement has been present in Ireland since 1969 and its first permanent centre on the island was set up in 1971. Among the group of young Catholics and Protestants, who partcipated in the Genfest 1973, in Italy, there was Sally McAllister, who later became the first Irish focolarina. Originally from Northern Ireland, she decided to embrace the Focolare Community Life instead of the armed struggle that raged in those years.
Today the Focolare Movement has spread itself among people of all ages and from all walks of life. Together with the five permanent centres located in different parts of the country, there is a “mini city of testimony” in the county of Kildare, not far from Dublin.
Official site of the 50th International Eucharistic Congress
Dossier: Maria Voce’s Short Biography
See also: Ireland – Unity Beyond Everything
Watch the interview with Maria Voce, president of the Focolare Movement
Ecumenical Meeting, St. Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast:
Maria Voce “The Culture of Trust”
Updated on 12th June 2012
BF – LH
SIF – Focolare Information Service
