Pope postpones International Eucharistic Congress in Budapest
POPE GENERAL AUDIENCE
Pope Francis waves during his general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Sept. 25, 2019. The act of bearing false witness against someone, or calumny, is a "diabolical cancer" and an attack against the body of the church, Pope Francis said during the audience. (CNS photo/Remo Casilli, Reuters)
By Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis, the Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses and local organizers have agreed to postpone by one year the 52nd International Eucharistic Congress, the Vatican announced April 23.
Because of the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on the travel and assembly of large groups of faithful, the pope, the papal committee, congress organizers and the bishops of Hungary decided to hold the congress, to be held in Budapest, in September 2021, instead of this year.
The announcement came a few days after the Vatican announced the next World Meeting of Families would be pushed back until June 2022 and the next international gathering for World Youth Day would be postponed to August 2023.
