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 53rd International Eucharistic Congress, Quito, Ecuador Scott 1861 (2024) The year of 2024 was historic for the Catholic Church in the United States. For the first time in over eighty years, a National Eucharistic Congress was convened: in July, the 10th National Eucharistic Congress met in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Congress, which culminated a three-year National Eucharistic Revival, engaged Catholics across the country and led to a groundswell of enthusiasm and a widespread spiritual rebirth across the United States. And two months later, the 53rd International Eucharistic Congress took place in Quinto, Ecuador. At the top of this article is an image of the souvenir sheet issued by Vatican City for that Congress held in South America. The National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis marked the twelfth such meeting held in the United States: there hade been nine previous National Congresses and two International Congresses held in the United States. Here is a list of those 12 meetings: Catholic Eucharistic Congresses, on an international level, date back to 1881, when the first such gathering occurred in Lille, France. The idea for the event came from French Bishop Gaston de Ségur, although the initial inspiration came from a French laywoman, Marie-Marthe-Baptistine Tamisier. Since that first meeting, the Congresses have met fairly regularly and now are scheduled to take place once every four years. From a Vatican City philatelic perspective, since the 38th International Eucharistic Congress, held in 1964 in Bombay (now Mumbai), India, and attended by Pope Paul VI, every International Eucharistic Congress has been represented on stamps issued by Vatican City. Over the next few days, the Page 2 entries will provide brief reviews of all these stamps. As a reference, a comprehensive review of Vatican City Eucharistic Congress stamps was presented by James Hamilton in an article appearing in Vatican Notes in 2012. That article can be accessed by clicking on the link in the References below. It provides both historical and philatelic information on all the Congresses held from 1964 to 2008. REFERENCES: |
