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Ethiopia: Thousands Attend End of National Eucharistic Congress
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Catholic Information Service for Africa (Nairobi)
9 May 2008
Posted to the web 9 May 2008
Addis Ababa
Some 3,000 people attended the closure of the National Eucharistic Congress with Cardinal Ivan Dias, Special Envoy of the Holy Father, who later proceeded to Djibouti.
The celebration was one of the activities marking the Great Jubilee and the Ethiopian New Christian Millennium being celebrated from September 2007 to September 2008.
"The celebration of the new Christian Millennium is a very important event in Ethiopia, as it defines one of the characteristics of the national identity," Archbishop Ramiro Moliner Ingles, Apostolic Nuncio in Ethiopia, told FIDES.
"The Catholic Church's contribution to the celebrations began with the National Eucharistic Congress, which concluded on Sunday, May 4, in the presence of Cardinal Ivan Dias, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and the Holy Father's Special Envoy," Archbishop Moliner Ingles said.
"With the Eucharistic Congress, the local Catholic bishops have recalled Our Lord's promise: 'I am with you until the end of time.' Christ's presence among men takes place primarily through the Eucharist."
The closing mass of the Eucharistic congress was held at Mary, Help of Christians Parish Church, run by the Salesian Fathers, in Addis Ababa. The Mass was held in the Eastern Rite and in the Amharic language, presided over by Archbishop Berhaneyesus D. Souraphiel of Addis Ababa, President of the Ethiopian Bishops' Conference.
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On Monday, Cardinal Dias traveled to Djibouti upon the invitation of Bishop Giorgio Bertin. "I am very grateful to Cardinal Dias for having accepted this invitation," Bishop Bertin told FIDES. "I had asked him if he could visit Djibouti, on his trip to Ethiopia, in order to encourage our small Church in continuing its mission of giving testimony to the Christian faith in an Islamic country."
The cardinal celebrated a mass in the cathedral. Later, he met with representatives from Caritas Djibouti, "who play a fundamental role, because as I always say, our mission must be above all through charity and education," Bishop Bertin said.
On Tuesday, Cardinal Dias visited the "Ecole de la Nativite," led by the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of Notre Dame, and the diocesan school that is attended by children from middle-class families, which is connected to a learning center for students who, for various reasons, cannot attend the school. The entire complex is led by the Presentation Sisters from India.
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