Monsignor Borgonovo tells International Eucharistic Congress: “Christ in the Eucharist is the source of our Hope”

The 53rd International Eucharistic Congress in Quito, Ecuador, concluded yesterday, September 15. Among the participants was the Undersecretary of the First Section of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Evangelization, Monsignor Graziano Borgonovo. In his closing speech, Monsignor Borgonovo invited all those present to come to Rome for the great Jubilee which will open on December 24, 2024, underlining the link between the Eucharist and the virtue of Hope.

He said: “The theme of this Congress ‘Brotherhood to Heal the World’ and the theme of the 2025 Jubilee ‘Pilgrims of Hope’, are united in the Eucharist. It is Christ Jesus, present in the Eucharist, who is our hope, the source of brotherhood to save the world."

Monsignor Borgonovo said that Hope is Jesus Christ himself, dead and risen, present in the Eucharist. He added: "The theme of hope is central: the Church proposes it forcefully in a time marked by serious tensions. The Jubilee, with its message of conversion, forgiveness, abundance, journey, and mercy, becomes a hope for the future itself. Hope is the light that illuminates the future, but not in a naively optimistic sense."

He said that humanity is living in a social and cultural context marked by unstoppable technological progress but also by increasingly evident forms of social marginalization and detachment from faith. "Relativism and profound individualism have emerged as characteristic traits of these decades, which is increasingly marked by the consequences of a secularism that tends to distance our contemporaries from their fundamental relationship with God, creating an interior desert, because in doing this man is in fact increasingly distancing from himself."

Monsignor Borgonovo added that it is precisely in this context that “it is necessary to focus on the theme of the transmission of faith. The Church immediately understood its fundamental task was to respond fully to the Lord's command: to go out into the world and make disciples of all nations. In this mission, it is Jesus in the Eucharist who guides and accompanies us.”

The true Christian novelty is, in fact, life beyond death. “Death is truly conquered, for this reason we must create perceptible signs of a culture of hope and resurrection. Living the ‘Fraternity that heals the world’ which has its source in the Eucharist, on which we reflected in this Congress, becomes a clear sign of hope. Without these signs, the announcement will always remain weak, and the effectiveness of the message will not reach its full potential.”

The difference, therefore, lies entirely in the substance of this “hope”. Monsignor Borgonovo said: “Everyone can hope, but it is the content of hope which matters. Christian hope has faith and charity as traveling companions, which never abandon it. Hope is born of faith and is nourished by love."

Christian Hope, which is Christ, is that which "does not disappoint", as the title of the Bull of Indiction of the Jubilee 2025 recalls.

"May the Jubilee be for all an opportunity to rekindle hope" (n. 1). This expression could encapsulate the richness of the Bull of Indiction of the Jubilee of 2025, which opens with the expression of Saint Paul: "The hope that does not disappoint", because it offers the certainty of God's love. The idea of ‘encounter’ is there, right at the beginning, as a fundamental concept orienting the pilgrims who will arrive in Rome and all those who will celebrate the Holy Year in the local Churches."

The "appeals" that the Pope makes in Spes non confundit can be interpreted as new signs of hope that ask for everyone's commitment. "In light of these signs and appeals cited by the Holy Father, the theme of fraternity for the healing of the world, which has been widely explored during this Eucharistic Congress, is very significant and full of hope, and undoubtedly becomes a challenge in the life of each of us."

The Jubilee, therefore, will be an opportunity for grace and renewal "to be seized for our sanctification, walking with hope in Jesus Christ, with the certainty of his Eucharistic presence at our side," concluded Monsignor Borgonovo before the hundreds of participants at the International Congress.

"From now on, please know that you are an important part of this Jubilee event and that the universal Church awaits you with joy in Rome. I wish you a joyful and hope-filled pilgrimage in the next Jubilee, where we will meet around Peter in the Eternal City."