I was a little embarrassed watching the coverage of the International Eucharistic Congress (IEC) in Dublin. Not because of anything that went on in Ireland, but rather because of my original attitude toward the congress being held there at all. Yet watching the pilgrims from around the world gathering in Dublin, I saw that their gestures of sympathy and solidarity were better than an attitude of ostracism and punishment.

When it was announced in 2008 at Quebec City that the 2012 IEC would be in Dublin, I was rather dismayed. I understood that sometimes a local Church in distress can be buoyed by such an international event — after all, that was the logic of having the IEC in Quebec City to begin with, to administer an emergency transfusion to the anemic local Church. Yet Dublin struck me as a step too far. After all, it would be hard to find any place where spectacular incompetence had brought the Church into greater crisis than in Ireland. And Irish society as a whole, led by its government, was hardly better.

DUBLIN - Irish Catholics’ deep desire to strengthen their faith must form the basis of a radical new evangelization, said Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin.

Addressing an estimated 80,000 pilgrims at the closing Mass of the 50th International Eucharistic Congress, Martin said that “in these eight days the Eucharist has awakened in our hearts something which went way beyond our plans and expectations.” He said high interest in catechetical sessions “tells us just how much thirst there is in our Catholic community to deepen the understanding of our faith,” he said.

DUBLIN - As the plainchant of "Tantum Ergo" drew the eucharistic procession to a close, the presiding prelates began to filter away. That's when some trip hop music erupted at the back of the massive assembly of pilgrims, which moments before had been on its knees in prayer and adoration.

Here is the text of the homily given by Cardinal Marc Ouellet, who asked forgiveness on behalf of the Church for the sexual abuse of children by some clergy.

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Related Story: Cardinal Ouellet, representing Pope, meets with Irish abuse victims

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Dear brothers and sisters,

Pope Benedict XVI asked me, as His Legate to the 50th International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin, that I would come to Lough Derg and ask God������Ƶapp forgiveness for the times clerics have sexually abused children not only in Ireland but anywhere in the Church.

DUBLIN - Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet, representing Pope Benedict XVI, met with Irish victims of church-related child abuse.

The cardinal, papal legate to the International Eucharistic Congress, met with the victims of institutional and clerical abuse during a pilgrimage to Lough Derg in Country Donegal June 12 and 13.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI called for prayers for the 50th International Eucharistic Congress under way in Dublin, expressing hopes it would lead to a greater appreciation of Jesus' self-sacrifice and deeper love and unity in the church.

The weeklong gathering, which opened June 10, is "a precious occasion for reaffirming the centrality of the Eucharist in the life of the church," the Pope said at the end of his weekly general audience June 13.

DUBLIN - The Catholic Church is under attack "partly because of the sins of some of its leaders, but mainly because of its uncompromising teachings" on marriage, said an Australian archbishop.

"Faced with this, the Church can either compromise and face irrelevance, or continue to teach Christ's truth about marriage, life and love, and pray that the world will listen," Archbishop Barry Hickey, retired archbishop of Perth, told pilgrims at the International Eucharistic Congress June 12.

His comments followed those of Canadian Cardinal Marc Oullet who earlier urged Catholics to use the resource of the family to confront the challenges of secularized societies.

DUBLIN - The church in Ireland is on the path to renewal, Church leaders told pilgrims at the opening Mass of the 50th International Eucharistic Congress June 10.

Welcoming pilgrims from more than 120 countries at an open-air Mass, Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin said: "The church in Ireland rejoices today in the presence of pilgrims from many parts of the world who witness to the universality of our Catholic faith and who show their faith-filled fellowship and solidarity with the Church in Ireland."

MAYNOOTH, Ireland - The Vatican official who will act as papal legate for the International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin defended marriage based on the church's traditional teaching and urged Catholics to use the resource of the family to confront the challenges of secularized societies.

Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet, head of the Congregation for Bishops, made his comment in his keynote address to open the International Theology Symposium at St. Patrick's College June 6.

DUBLIN - As it prepares this week to welcome the Catholic world for the International Eucharistic Congress, the Church in Ireland is showing sparks of renewal following a dramatic loss of credibility over the past decade.

A recent survey by the Association of Catholic Priests found that weekly Mass attendance throughout the country is still one of the highest in Europe at 35 per cent.  The 2011 Irish census indicated 84 per cent of people still self-identify as Catholic.

But problems remain. In the capital, still reeling from a combination of religious apathy, secularism and disenchantment as a result of clergy sex abuse scandals, Mass attendance in some parishes is just two per cent.