The World Meeting of Families has called for Ministers of Holy Communion to volunteer for the Papal Mass in Phoenix Park on Sunday 26 August. Upwards of 4,000 ministers will be needed to serve the 500,000 expected at the concluding Mass of the World Meeting of Families.
The ninth World Meeting of Families will take place in Dublin from 21–26 August on the theme, ‘The Gospel of the Family: Joy for the World’. Pope Francis will join the events of the festival, including the celebration of the Closing Mass at Phoenix Park on 26 August. 500,000 tickets for the Mass went live for booking on Monday 25 June. Within the first 24 hours 285,000 tickets were booked. It was announced on 9 July, just 2 weeks after their launch, that all 500,000 tickets had been booked.
4,000 volunteer ministers will be needed for the concluding Mass. The invitation is open to any of those who are already trained and assisting with the distribution of Holy Communion in their own parishes including lay people, priests, deacons and religious Ministers of Holy Communion.
WMOF added that volunteers need to be already trained and functioning ministers of Holy Communion in their own parish communities. Volunteers will also need to be steady on their feet as much of the distribution will be done in the grassy corrals of the Phoenix Park Papal Mass site. Garda vetting for the event is also necessary, even if volunteers have been vetted for ministry in their own parishes.
4,500 ciboria have been newly made for use at the Papal Mass, with more than half a million hosts available, donated by the Redemptoristine Sisters of St Alphonsus’ Monastery, Dublin, and the Cistercian Sisters from Glencairn, Co Waterford.
At the Mass, the first main block of the faithful (around 78,000 people) will receive the blessed Eucharist directly from the sanctuary area. For the remainder of the people, who will be in corrals of around 1,400 people, there will be 16 ‘sub-chapels’ positioned beside large video screens from which distribution will be coordinated to every other sector with a team of 9 people to each corral. 8 people will distribute Holy Communion, in twos, in each of the four corners of the corral. For those who are unable to receive an ordinary Communion, one minister will be assigned to the centre of each corral to distribute only Low Gluten hosts.
For more information, and to apply as a volunteer, click here.
The full schedule for the World Meeting of Families and the itinerary for Pope Francis’ visit, as well as information regarding transport and for those with accessibility requirements, can be found on www.worldmeeting2018.ie.
