THE opening ceremony in next year's International Eucharistic Congress at Munich, will be a special blessing for the more than 20,000 people who will be active in the organisation and running of the Congress.
Cardinal Wendel, Archbishop of Munich and Freising, will give the blessing on July 31 in the Theresienwiese, the huge square near the centre of the city where the Congress is to be held. On the same day services will be held in all the city's churches.
Plans for the Congress. which runs from July 31 to August 7, were announced recently at a news conference. The schedule calls for the next three days, August I to 3. to be devoted to conferences by participating Catholic organizations. international meetings and visits to churches and religious exhibits.
On August 3, the papal legate (who has not yet been named) will open the main part of the Congress, The remaining days will be keyed to themes from the Holy Week and Easter liturgy. The Congress will close on August 7 with a Mass during which a message to the Congress will be broadcast by Pope John XXIII.
The motto of the Congress is "For the Life of the World." An official badge has been designed by 24-year-old Frank Hoffman. a Munich Academy student.
The winning design shows a lamb with a triumphal banner and the motto of the Congress. On the reverse side is an illustration of the towers of Our Lady's cathedra!
in Munich. • A special postage stamp also is to be issued to mark the event. It will show a dove drinking out of a chalice, topped by a cross. Also to be issued is a gold and silver medallion which will be a permanent souvenir of the Congress. One side will show the Last Supper under the cross, while the other side will have the coats of arms of Cardinal Wendel and the city of M unich.
Several bishops have already announced their intention of taking part in the Congress. Cardinal Gracias, Archbishop of Bombay. will be coming to Munich together with three other archbishops and three bishops from India. From Africa there will be Bishop Kelleter, C.S.Sp., of Bethlehem, South Africa. and Belfast-horn Bishop Bluter, C.S.Sp.. of Mombasa and Zanzibar.