In this interview with Vatican Radio, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle reflects on his experience at the Tenth National Eucharistic Congress in the United States, and shares the message Pope Francis had for participants.
By Christopher Wells
VATICAN CITY — The National Eucharistic Congress in the United States was “a blessed experience for me,” Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle told Vatican Radio on his return from the event, which he attended as Pope Francis’ personal representative, known as a “pontifical legate.”
The Pro-Prefect for the Section of First Evangelization for the Dicastery for Evangelization, Cardinal Tagle said, “It was palpable that people were responding to a calling from God who sent His Son Jesus in the flesh and whose presence remains among us in in the Eucharist.” And, he added, “This has sent the Holy Spirit touching their hearts through the voice of their pastors and their religious orders and their lay movements or groups, to come to respond to the call and to express their faith now in Jesus’ Presence among us.”
Recovering a sense of wonder
Noting that it was customary for the Pope to commission his legate with a personal letter, Cardinal Tagle said, “It was very clear that first, the Holy Father wanted to encourage the people to recover the sense of wonder, of amazement at the gifts, the spiritual gifts that the Eucharist brings to us, again, a sense of wonder.”
He went on to say that “the Holy Father added immediately that having received the gift, they should impart to others the beauty of that gift – the missionary of dimension of our Eucharistic devotion so that our Eucharistic devotion does not end up being a closed relationship between Jesus and me, and I forget the world and I forget others.” Instead, the Cardinal explained, “If you have received the gift, then we should go on mission proclaiming the good news that we have seen, that we have tasted, that we have received.”
Interview with Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle
Pontifical Legate to the National Eucharistic Congress
Vatican Radio: Your Eminence, Cardinal Tagle, thank you for joining us this afternoon. You’ve just returned from the United States, where you were the pontifical legate, the pope’s representative to the National Eucharistic Congress. Can you tell us about your experience of the event?
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle: Well, first of all, it is a blessed – and a blessing – a blessed experience for me. And I thank the Holy Father for sending me as his representative to the National Eucharistic Congress. You know, it gave me, first of all, an experience once again of a church in the original sense of the word, a gathering of people, but not just a gathering because they wanted to party or just because they have a common interest, but a gathering that is really a response to a calling.
And it was palpable that people were responding to a calling from God who sent His Son Jesus in the flesh and whose presence remains among us in in the Eucharist. And this has sent the Holy Spirit touching their hearts through the voice of their pastors and their religious orders and their lay movements or groups, to come to respond to the call and to express their faith now in Jesus’ presence among us.
So for me, it’s a wonderful experience to see the Church, in coming together in the name of Jesus, in prayer, in wanting to learn more regarding the Word of God through the speeches, through the catechetical events, and most especially through the testimonies of peoples who have been transformed by their Eucharistic life and spirituality. I count it as a blessing for me.
Q. And again, you were the representative of Pope Francis to the National Eucharistic Congress. Can you share with us, what was the message that you brought from the Holy Father to the US faithful?
Speaker2: Well, the Holy Father wrote me a letter – and it is customary for the Holy Father to write a letter to the person that he is sending, as a delegate, to any event, and in this case, to the National Eucharistic Congress. And aside from the letter, I had an opportunity to talk with him before my departure.
But in the letter, it was very clear that first, the Holy Father wanted to encourage the people to recover the sense of wonder, of amazement at the gifts, the spiritual gifts that the Eucharist brings to us, again, a sense of wonder. That’s why I emphasized in my homily the sense of the renewed vision of receiving gifts, the sense of wonder at having been the recipient of this tremendous gift, which is not just anything but the presence of Jesus who fulfilled His mission of love by coming as one of us except in sin. So His mission is accomplished in His being a gift in the flesh. And now He gives His flesh to us as food as a pledge of eternal life.
So the Holy Father wants the people, not only those who attended, but everyone, especially the United States, to recover that sense of amazement and gratitude for the gift being received.
But the Holy Father added immediately that having received the gift, they should impart to others the beauty of that gift – the missionary dimension of our Eucharistic devotion, so that our Eucharistic devotion does not end up being a closed relationship between Jesus and me, and I forget the world and I forget others. No. If you have received the gift, then we should go on mission proclaiming the good news that we have seen, that we have tasted, that we have received.
So I just emphasized those two important aspects of the Pope’s message to me, which I thought he wanted me to relay to everyone in the Congress.
Q. And in fact, the idea of going on mission and sharing the gift we’ve received is part of the ongoing National Eucharistic revival. That was the overall context of the Eucharistic Congress, and that’s still ongoing. What fruits – given your experience in these past few days and over the past few years – what fruits do you hope to see in the Church in the United States as a consequence of the Congress and the Eucharistic revival?
Of course, we rely on the gift of God, the Holy Spirit that moves the hearts of people, and we rely on the power of the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist to produce those fruits.
But I can, in hope, also say that after listening to the people who had participated – even in the airport, I met some of them who were also flying out of Indianapolis – and I already see the beginnings of the growth of the fruits sown during the Congress.
First of all, I saw the joy of being gifted with the Lord. And that joy I hope will be spread by people. Because I think the Holy Father stressed that the Evangelii gaudium, the joy of the gospel, yes, our life as Christians, our Eucharistic practice are not just obligations imposed on us, but they are gifts to us that we should receive with gratitude and with joy.
And I saw much joy, much joy, and I hope that would be one fruit that people will see that following Jesus is a joyful matter. It is. Yes, it will have its challenges. We will bear the Cross, but we bear it with joy. Not with lonely and regretful hearts, but with joy.
And secondly, the fruit is also to encourage people to come together, to come together for the Mass. Because I heard that there was, since the Covid pandemic, there was a drop in the attendance at Mass, the physical attendance at Mass. I hope this big gathering will encourage people to come back to church in their parishes and to experience the totality of the Eucharist, that Jesus gathers us as His Body. We listen to the word of Jesus in the Liturgy of the Word, we gather the gifts of the earth, the fruits of human labor, that will become the body of Christ. And then after receiving it, we go on mission, but before we can go, we should be gathered.
And I hope that this Congress would have encouraged the viewers, those who follow the Congress to go out and go back to church, be with the community, experience being Body of Christ and together also to go on mission.
Q. One last question for you. You’re the pro-prefect of the section of the dicastery for evangelization dealing with the first evangelization and new particular churches. How can renewed Eucharistic devotion, not just in the United States, but maybe throughout the Church, contribute to the first evangelization?
You know, there is what you call an intimate connection between the Eucharist and evangelization. First, when we go to the experience of the early Church after the Resurrection and Ascension of the Lord, we see that the early Christian communities gathered to listen to the teachings of the apostles, to break bread together, and they shared their goods, their properties to be shared in common, especially with the poor. And according to the Acts of the Apostles, that gathering in the Word of God, gathering the Breaking of Bread, the gathering in charity, which is very Eucharistic, caught the attention of many people, and many were converted to the Catholic faith.
So the Eucharistic gathering is in itself a proclamation in action of the good news of what Jesus could do to a community, of what new life, the new life that Jesus brings to a community that is gathered in the Eucharist.
So we hope, we hope that, and I have to testify that in many parts of the world where Christians are a tiny minority, Christians are eager. They walk for miles and miles, even for days, in order to join the community in the celebration of the Eucharist. And in that gathering, they are renewed and they give a witness to non-Christians about the good news. Sometimes it happens that it is the Eucharistic assembly that makes non-Christians curious what I call this holy curiosity. They ask why? Where are you gathering every Sunday and why do you share songs? Why do you share even your food with each other? They open the gates for us to proclaim what we have seen, heard, and touched Jesus in the Eucharist.
Q. Cardinal Tagle, thank you again so much for taking time to speak with us. I know you’ve had a long trip. Is there anything else you’d like to share as we conclude our interview?
Well, I just hope that people who went, from different parts of the United States – because there were pilgrimages leading up to Indianapolis – now the expectation is from Indianapolis, will there be a movement going back to the different parts of the country? That’s where we have to be open to the Holy Spirit, that will lead us to bring Jesus wherever He wants us to go.
