5th National Eucharistic Congress – ARCHBISHOP AUGUSTINE O AKUBEZE’S ADDRESS

WELCOME ADDRESS AT THE 5TH NATIONAL EUCHARISTIC CONGRESS IN BENIN, 
NOVEMBER 12, 2022

BY ARCHBISHOP AUGUSTINE O. AKUBEZE’S

HIGHLIGHTS

1. Let me begin by encouraging those who make every effort to attend Sunday Masses and participate in the Eucharist.
2. To many of you who ensure that you attend daily Masses in spite of all the challenges on your way, I greet you. I urge you to continue to participate and receive the Holy Eucharist daily.
3. To those who out of respect for the holiness of the Eucharist refrain from receiving the Eucharist when seriously late due to their own fault
4. and to those who also refrain from receiving the Holy Eucharist when in a state of unworthiness, I praise your respect for our Lord in the Eucharist.
5. I welcome many who are here today to celebrate this Eucharistic Congress but because of one canonical issue or the other, you are not a regular communicant, I encourage you to work hard at removing anything that will stop you from receiving Christ in the Eucharist, for nothing is worth trading Christ for.
6. To my brother Bishops and our indispensable collaborators, the priests, please let us journey with our faithful who are struggling to remove impediments holding them back from the reception of the Eucharist.
7. There are several canonical options available that we can explore to ensure that our faithful receive Holy Communion. Let us be open to the sound advice of canonists and other experts in dealing with the many challenges our faithful face in attempting to overcome the obstacles to the reception of Christ in the Holy Communion.
8. To all priests, I say, always ensure that you celebrate the Eucharist whether you are scheduled for public Mass or not. Daily celebration of the Eucharist by priest is a sign of our living out the reality of our vocation.
9. We are called to be Eucharistic priests.
10. Respect for the Liturgical rubrics is an obligation that rests on the shoulders of every priest.
11. Priests must also strive to always celebrate the Mass in a state of grace.
12. To our lay faithful, occasions like this Congress offers us the opportunity to remind you that ….Every priest who has the faculty to celebrate the Mass following the liturgical rubrics transforms the bread and wine to the sacred specie of the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Christ.
13. It is therefore, important that the lay faithful do not constitute themselves into followers of priests, moving from one parish to another, looking for their favourite priest.
14. We as Christians are followers of Christ, and not followers of clergymen in the Church.
15. I speak to all “ecclesial parochial migrants,” that is, those who move with priests who are transferred to another parish, to desist from this because this is not an expression of true faith in the Eucharist.
16. To priests who directly or indirectly induce parishioners to move with them when transferred, know that you are not faithful to your calling. You are called to practice what you teach, and one fundamental aspect of our doctrine is that any validly ordained priest who has the faculty can celebrate the Eucharist for the faithful.
17. This we all must promote, knowing that Christ in the Eucharist is the source and summit of all our spiritual life.

ARCHBISHOP AUGUSTINE O. AKUBEZE’S WELCOME ADDRESS AT THE 5TH NATIONAL EUCHARISTIC CONGRESS IN BENIN, NOVEMBER 12, 2022, AT ST. PAUL MINOR SEMINARY AIRPORT ROAD, BENIN CITY

1. I warmly wish to welcome you all to this ancient and historic City of Benin, and to this celebration of the 5th National Eucharistic Congress held once every ten years. On behalf of my brother Bishops who govern the Dioceses in the Province of Benin City, I welcome you. In a very special way, I welcome the Papal Nuncio to Nigeria, His Grace, Most Rev Antonio Filipazzi. I welcome the President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria, and his principal officers. I salute His Eminences, Your Graces, His Lordships, Priests, Consecrated men and women, Government officials, security men and women, press crew, liturgical functionaries, catechists, all knights and ladies, Papal knights and Dames, Extra ordinary ministers of Holy Communion, Laity executives and various lay apostolate groups, societies and organizations. To all of you I say welcome to the celebration of the most important mystery in the life of the Church.

2. I would like to first and foremost, before anything else, thank the Almighty God, for the successful completion and hosting of the just concluded 3rd National Congress here in Benin City. I thank, Your Eminences, Your Graces, My Lords, Priests, Religious, all the delegates, participants and all those who worked tirelessly behind the scene to make sure the congress was successful. May God bless and reward you all through Christ our Lord. Amen.

3. As we gather to celebrate the 5th National Eucharistic Congress, which began yesterday, the 11^thof November and ends on Sunday, the 13^th of November, 2022, I would wish to take advantage of this opportune moment to speak a little about the Eucharist, without prejudice to the articulated reflection to be given by the homilist. Let me begin by encouraging those who make every effort to attend Sunday Masses and participate in the Eucharist. To many of you who ensure that you attend daily Masses in spite of all the challenges on your way, I greet you. I urge you to continue to participate and receive the Holy Eucharist daily. To those who out of respect for the holiness of the Eucharist refrain from receiving the Eucharist when seriously late due to their own fault and to those who also refrain from receiving the Holy Eucharist when in a state of unworthiness, I praise your respect for our Lord in the Eucharist. I welcome many who are here today to celebrate this Eucharistic Congress but because of one canonical issue or the other, you are not a regular communicant, I encourage you to work hard at removing anything that will stop you from receiving Christ in the Eucharist, for nothing is worth trading Christ for. To my brother Bishops and our indispensable collaborators, the priests, please let us journey with our faithful who are struggling to remove impediments holding them back from the reception of the Eucharist. There are several canonical options available that we can explore to ensure that our faithful receive Holy Communion. Let us be open to the sound advice of canonists and other experts in dealing with the many challenges our faithful face in attempting to overcome the obstacles to the reception of Christ in the Holy Communion.

4. I welcome all priests to this Eucharistic Congress. Without the priest there cannot be the Eucharist and without the Eucharist we cannot speak of the Priest. The Lord himself instituted the Eucharist on the same day he instituted the Sacred Priesthood because they are inseparable. To all priests, I say always ensure that you celebrate the Eucharist whether you are scheduled for public Mass or not. Daily celebration of the Eucharist by priest is a sign of our living out the reality of our vocation. We are called to be Eucharistic priests. Respect for the Liturgical rubrics is an obligation that rests on the shoulders of every priest. Priests must also strive to always celebrate the Mass in a state of grace. Although the efficacy of the sacrament does not depend on the worthiness or unworthiness of the minister, because the sacraments works ex opera operato, nevertheless, one excludes himself from the rich graces of this sacrament if he celebrates in a state of mortal sin. I thank and welcome all priests who make remote and immediate preparations for the fruitful celebration of the Eucharist.

5. To our lay faithful, occasions like this Congress offers us the opportunity to remind you that drawing from the fruits of the Eucharist is not dependent on the charism of the priest. Every priest who has the faculty to celebrate the Mass following the liturgical rubrics transforms the bread and wine to the sacred specie of the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Christ. It is therefore, important that the lay faithful do not constitute themselves into followers of priests, moving from one parish to another, looking for their favourite priest. We as Christians are followers of Christ, and not followers of clergymen in the Church. I speak to all “ecclesial parochial migrants,” that is, those who move with priests who are transferred to another parish, to desist from this because this is not an expression of true faith in the Eucharist. To priests who directly or indirectly induce parishioners to move with them when transferred, know that you are not faithful to your calling. You are called to practice what you teach, and one fundamental aspect of our doctrine is that any validly ordained priest who has the faculty can celebrate the Eucharist for the faithful. This we all must promote, knowing that Christ in the Eucharist is the source and summit of all our spiritual life.

6. 6. Dearly beloved in Christ, we must continue to talk about Christ’s real presence in the Eucharist. We must continue to teach this doctrine by our way of life. Frequent visitation to the Blessed Sacrament is an expression of our belief in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. It is never too much to emphasize this teaching in our homilies, catechesis, seminars, talks and so on. All of us must teach and live out the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist.

7. Once again, I welcome all of you to this 5th National Eucharistic Congress. We entrust, our lives, families, work and our country Nigeria to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. I pray that the graces of this Eucharistic Congress will follow us to our homes and be with us throughout our lives. Amen. May God bless all of you and lead you back safely to your destinations after this congress, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Thank You and God bless you all!!!