VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 18 June 2012 (VIS) – A video message from Benedict XVI, transmitted at the end of a Mass attended by thousands of people in Dublin yesterday evening, brought to a close the fiftieth International Eucharistic Congress. The Congress – which was held in the Irish capital over the course of last week on the theme: “The Eucharist. Communion with Christ and with One Another” – coincided with the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of Vatican Council II, and the choice of theme was associated with that anniversary, as the Holy Father explained in his message, extracts of which are given below.

“From the earliest times the notion of ‘koinonia’ or ‘communio’ has been at the core of the Church’s understanding of herself, her relationship to Christ her founder, and the Sacraments she celebrates, above all the Eucharist. Through our Baptism, we are…