Three are the Romanian martyrs whose relics adorn the Mission Cross at the International Eucharistic Congress that is taking place in Budapest over these days, as reported by the official media of the event. They are prelates who were killed out of hatred for the faith under the Communist regime: mgr. János Scheffler, Roman-Catholic bishop of Oradea, who died in the prison of Jilava, in Romania, in 1952, and beatified by Pope Benedict in 2011; mgr. Anton Durcovici, Roman-Catholic bishop of Iași and apostolic administrator of Bucharest, who died in the prison of Sighet, in Romania, in 1951, and beatified by Pope Francis in 2014; and mgr. Vladimir Ghika, a prince and a bi-ritual priest, who died in the prison of Jilava, in Romania, in 1954, and beatified by Pope Francis in 2013. Next to the relics of other saints and blessed souls, with the relic of the Holy Cross of the Redeemer at the centre, they look like the flowers of the tree of life that encircles the Mission Cross, the symbol of the 52^nd International Eucharistic Congress.
eucharistiMade in 2007 by Hungarian artist Csaba Ozsvári (1963-2009) for the city mission of Budapest, the Cross was additionally chosen as the symbol of the International Eucharistic Congress hosted by the Catholic Church of Hungary and enriched with more relics. The Eucharistic Congress is also attended by some Romanian priests and pilgrims from different dioceses and eparchies of the Catholic Church in Romania. On Wednesday afternoon, as part of the “parish Masses” programme, the Romanian pilgrims will attend Mass in the Romanian language, officiated by the metropolitan archbishop Percă in St Anne’s church.