MEDIA CONTACT: Lorna Lardizabal Dietz

Lornadietzpr at gmail dot com

PHOTO RELEASE: After the 51st International Eucharistic Congress

February 4, 2016, Cebu City, Philippines --- A post-event photo with two of the 51st International
Eucharistic Congress's organizers during a luncheon hosted by one of Cebu's furniture designers,
Vito Selma, at the House of Lechon on Acacia Street, Cebu City. From left to right: Evelyn Delfin,
CPA, Moises Selma and his spouse, Evelyn Dira Selma flanking Father Mar Balili, who was in charge
of the liturgy, and Father Jan Limchua, a visiting Vatican City diplomat who traveled all the way from
Benin, West Africa.
The congress, which took four years to plan, was all about "the experience of faith", that in spite of
poverty, the Catholic spiritual festival expressed its faith through singing, eating, and celebrating the
Filipino way: joyfully! There were 15,000 registered delegates from at least 73 countries who attended
the IEC's activities. Those who could not attend the symposium went to the outdoor masses,
estimated at more than a million attendees. Another highlight was an "evening torch-light procession
stretching over 5 kilometers and witnessing the participation of nearly 2 million people". The two
priests noted that the African delegation traveled the longest distance while the largest group came
from Taiwan, 600 delegates who chartered a plane.
US-based Filipinos were highly visible at the IEC, Shirley Figueroa Lascano reported. Ms. Lascano,
one of the many "pilgrims" representing Brooklyn and Queens, New York, noted on TheTablet.org
that "On the final weekend of the pilgrimage, we participated in a Mass for 5,000 first communicants,
celebrated by Archbishop Emeritus of Cebu, Cardinal Ricardo Vidal, who received his First
Communion during the 33rd Eucharistic Congress, in the Philippines in 1937."
Pope Francis, during his videotaped message to the IEC, announced that the 52nd International
Eucharistic Congress will be held in Budapest, Hungary, in 2020. For more information:
www.IEC2016.ph.
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