Pope John Paul II called the Jubilee Year “intensely eucharistic,” and so it was:
The 17 Catholic bishops of Pennsylvania issued a document answering questions about the Eucharist.
Eucharistic gatherings drew large crowds in Jefferson City, Mo., Arizona State University, Pittsburgh and many other places nationwide.
Archbishop Oscar H. Lipscomb of Mobile, Ala., told a Sacramento diocesan gathering the Eucharist has “the answers to our human hurts, inadequacies, doubts and even despair.”
Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger of Paris said it's capable of transforming cultures.
The president of the Lithuanian bishops' conference Archbishop Sigitas Tamkevicius of Kaunas recalled only one aspect of communist persecution fondly: The Eucharist was more respected when the faith was stronger.
John Paul II said disunity hurts most when it means all Christians can't share the Eucharist together.
Austrian Cardinal Christoph Schönborn of Vienna stressed the best reason for frequent confession: the Eucharist. “Perhaps we have lost sight of the fact that Communion requires preparation,” the cardinal said June 23 at the International Eucharist Congress.
“Go to him, talk to him, love him, said St. Clare Sister Briege McKenna, in a visit to the Fall River, Mass., diocese last year.
— Compiled from staff reports