June 19, 2012. (Romereports.com) The International Eucharistic Congress came to a close with a Sunday Mass in Dublin, where a video message from Benedict XVI was transmitted. Among other things, the Pope addressed the power of the Eucharist, the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council and Ireland's sex abuse scandal.

Benedict XVI
“Thankfulness and joy at such a great history of faith and love have recently been shaken in an appalling way by the revelation of sins committed by priests and consecrated persons against people entrusted to their care. Instead of showing them the path towards Christ, towards God, instead of bearing witness to His goodness, they abused people and undermined the credibility of the Church’s message. How are we to explain the fact that people who regularly received the Lord’s body and confessed their sins in the Sacrament of Penance have offended in this way? It remains a mystery. Yet evidently, their Christianity was no longer nourished by joyful encounter with Jesus Christ: it had become merely a matter of habit.”