Trivia About The 51st IEC

Plaza Independencia in Cebu City Philippines was the venue of the Opening of the 51st International Eucharistic Congress or IEC.

The 51st IEC kicked off with a Holy Mass held in the Plaza Independencia last January 24, 2016 Sunday at 4 o’clock in the afternoon. It was officiated by His Eminence Charles Maung Cardinal Bo, the legate from Pope Francis.

“The IEC is an occasion for Catholics to reaffirm the Second Vatican Council’s proclamation of the Eucharist as the Source and Summit of Christian life,” said Pasig Bishop Mylo Hubert Vergara, the chairman of the communications department of the 51st IEC in a Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines or CBCP’s official statement.

The Philippines hosted the IEC for the second time now which is held in Cebu known as the Cradle of Christianity in Asia this year. The first time was in 1937 when Manila hosted the 33rd IEC about Seventy Nine years ago.

Thousands of delegates from the different parts not just in the Philippines but from more than 70 countries around the world are expected to attend the grand event.

Bearing the theme, “Christ In You, Our Hope of Glory,” which is taken from the letter of Saint Paul to the Colossians the 51st IEC will end with an Statio Orbis Mass that will be held on January 31, 2016 at 10AM in the Saint Pedro Calungsod Template in the Cebu City’s South Road Properties. Cebu City Public Information Office