Tour for IEC symbol kicks off

CEBU, Philippines - The yearlong tour for the pilgrimage symbol of the 2016 International Eucharistic Congress kicked off yesterday through a sendoff mass at the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral, where the symbol stayed for five days and will now be transferred to the different parishes in Cebu and in the country.

Monsignor Ruben Labajo, team moderator of the Cathedral, said that the symbol (a replica of Magellan's Cross) will remind the people that Christ is alive in the Eucharist.

Labajo said the pilgrimage symbol will also serve as a reminder for all the Cebuanos to pray for the success of the IEC which will be held in Cebu in 2016.

The IEC, Labajo told the churchgoers, happens every four years and Cebuanos are fortunate that it's going to take place in Cebu. The last time the Philippines hosted the IEC was in 1937 in Manila.

From the Cathedral, the symbol was set to be transferred to San Fernando Rey Parish in Liloan, Cebu where it will stay for at least eight days.

The Symbol will then be transferred to Sto. Tomas de Villanueva Parish in Danao City, Inmaculate Conception in Camotes, San Guillermo in Catmon, San Vicente Ferrer in Bogo City, St. Rose de Lima in Daanbantayan and Saints Peter and Paul in Bantayan.

It will also stay in the parishes of San Antonio de Padua in Tuburan, St. Francis de Assisi in Balamban, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel and St. John de Suhagun in Toledo City, St. Anne in Barili, Our Lady of Sorrows in Ronda, St. Gregory of Ginatilan, Patrocinio de Maria in Boljoon, San Guillermo in Dalaguete, St. Michael de Archangel in Argao, St. Catehrine de Alexandria in Carcar, Inmaculate Heart of Mary in Minglanilla and back to the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral.

The symbol's promotional tour started in Cebu last October 25 and will run until January 10. After the promotional tour in Cebu, the symbol will go nationwide beginning January 25, 2015 until November 2015.

The symbol will stay at the Cathedral until the IEC Congress culmination on January 24-21, 2016.

Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma, who officiated the mass when the symbol was launched on October 25, said that that the visit of the symbol in the different parishes would mean that one is not forgotten and is being cared for.

"It means, the visit of God himself," Palma told the over 500 delegates of the IEC.

The symbol's visit to other places aims to drumbeat the upcoming event which carried the theme "Christ in You, the Hope of Glory."

The IEC is an international gathering of people which aims to promote awareness of the central place of the Eucharist in the life and mission of the Catholic Church. — (FREEMAN)