Logo for 53rd International Eucharist Congress unveiled

By Deborah Castellano Lubov

On Monday, Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses unveiled the official logo for the 53rd International Eucharistic Congress (IEC2024), to take place in Quito, Ecuador, on 8-15 September 2024.

The theme of the Congress, "Faternidad para sanar el mundo" ('Fellowship to heal the world'), is inspired by Jesus' words in the Gospel according to St. Matthew that "You are all brothers," and recalls the current synodal experience of the Church, called to become a fraternal place of inclusion, shared belonging and deep hospitality.  The Congress culminates with the celebration of the concluding "Statio orbis" of the event.

Earlier this month, the logo and official hymn of the Congress were presented at the headquarters of the Ecuadorian Episcopal Conference.

A statement released on Monday explained each element of the logo and its meaning.

The Logo

"The Cross of Christ," it highlighted, "enters the flesh of the world to heal the wounds opened by sin: disobedience to God, abuse of neighbour and exploitation of creation. It is the new axis of history. There where humanity has unloaded the greatest violence on the Lamb of God, it is precisely there that God has poured out His love with superabundance in the signs of the water and blood that flowed from the open side of Christ on the Cross. The Crucified One is the Risen One. With open arms, He embraces all as brothers reconciled to the Father. 

The illustration of the open Heart of Christ on the Cross, it added, represents "the source of the love that makes all things new."

"His wound," explains the statement, "no longer exudes death, but is the source of life and reconciliation. Therefore, the open wounds of the Risen One are the new wounds of love that heal, here and now, all the still open wounds of hatred, enmity, violence and death."

The Host depicted refers to the Eucharist which is the summit and source of all Christian life.

"The light of the Eucharist," says the statement, "gives a new direction to human history because God continues to gather his people, from east to west, gathering them around the Word of life and the living Bread descended from heaven. The Eucharist is a bond of brotherhood: where sin disowns us as brothers, the Eucharistic celebration gathers us to the same table as children of the same Father."

The logo highlights the city hosting the Congress.

"Quito, a city in the middle of the world, situated at latitude zero," the logo's explanatory note goes on to say, "widens its tent to become an immense Eucharistic city where we are all invited to participate in this great dream of a fraternity redeemed and healed by the perfect love of Christ, a love that always precedes, a love that in this hour of history helps us to become aware that: 'You are all brothers' (Mt 23:8)."

News about the event can be found on the web pages of the Preparatory Committee  and the Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses.