Rising numbers prompts benediction at Cork’s historic Eucharistic Procession to move outdoors
Fintan Gavin, Bishop of Cork and Ross, with Cllr Tony Fitzgerald at the launch of the annual Corpus Christi Eucharistic Procession which will take place on June 22. Picture: Brian Lougheed
Rising attendance at Cork’s historic Eucharistic Procession has prompted a return of the outdoors benediction ceremony this year.
The move was announced on Wednesday night as the Bishop of Cork and Ross, Fintan Gavin, announced details of this year’s event next month, a religious event that has been a part of the social fabric of the city for almost a century.
“The Eucharistic Procession is deeply rooted and of huge importance to the people of Cork City and beyond,” Bishop Gavin said.
“We are almost 10 decades on since the first procession through the streets of the city.
“Last year, we had a tremendous turnout and this year we are preparing for the ever growing numbers.
“The most notable innovation to this year's procession is the decision to take the final prayer and benediction back out onto the streets to a specially constructed platform at the National Monument on Grand Parade.
“I’m most grateful for everyone’s assistance in continuing — and growing — this long-standing Cork tradition.”
The Eucharistic Procession, to mark the feast of Corpus Christi, has been a significant part of the city’s religious heritage for 99 years.
The idea of taking the procession through the city emerged in the years after the turmoil of the War of Independence and the Civil War as part of wider efforts to close rifts and facilitate healing in a city deeply divided by the conflicts.
The first procession took place on June 6, 1926, under the auspices of Bishop Colahan, with tens of thousands of people participating.
It grew to become the largest Eucharistic Procession in the country, with tens of thousands of people walking annually from their parish churches to the city centre for benediction outdoors on Daunt Square.
But against the backdrop of a fall-off in church attendance and a near collapse in vocations, attendance at the procession dwindled over the last two decades to just a few hundred faithful, before covid brought the event to a complete halt.
However, in 2023, Bishop Gavin embarked on a mission to rejuvenate and reimagine the event and was blown away by the response when some 4,000 people processed from the Cathedral of St Mary and St Anne through the streets to attend benediction at Saints Peter and Paul’s Church on Paul St, where he delivered the sermon at his first Eucharistic Procession since his appointment as bishop in 2019.
Numbers increased significantly last year, and thousands processed through the streets, before hundreds packed into the church, with hundreds more left standing outside watching the ceremony on big screens.
With a larger crowd expected this year, Bishop Gavin has decided to take the final prayers and benediction of the blessed sacrament outside again, with a stage and altar due to be erected on the Grand Parade.
“This year’s procession will have participants from every continent and many countries,” he said.
"I'd like to invite individuals and groups from across the city and county to be part of the celebration. You cannot have the word 'community' without 'unity'."
The Eucharistic Procession will take place on Sunday, June 22, leaving from the Cathedral of Saint Mary and Saint Anne at 3pm.
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