Media Release
5 April 2013
Peace and Prayers for Pope Francis at International Retreat – Starting Tonight

Brilliant international speakers highlight the 20th annual Eucharistic Convention starting tonight, a unique retreat that has attracted over 30,000 Catholics and this year will include prayers for the new Pontiff.

Bishop Patrick Dunn will celebrate the opening Friday night Mass (7.30pm) at Westlake Boys High School (30 Forrest Hill Road, Takapuna), and the retreat will be filled with inspirational talks, music and prayer.

Guests include:
Father Leszek Czelusniak, Poland/Rwanda, has seen “hell”, the genocide and ethnic cleansing in Rwanda that claimed a million lives. His Order is bringing peace and healing to the ravaged country through the Divine Mercy Devotion.

Father John Hollowell, USA, a dynamic young “warrior” priest from the Archdiocese of Indianapolis whose pro-life You Tube video “I Have a Say” has attracted more than 130,000 views.

Susan Conroy, USA, worked with Mother Teresa in Calcutta. She has written two books about Mother and hosts “Speaking of Saints”, a hugely popular programme on Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN), the world’s largest Christian broadcaster.

John Henry-Westen, Canada, is co-founder and editor-in-chief of LifeSiteNews.com, the most popular life and family news service on the internet, with 2.5 million page views per month.

Henrietta Reid, Auckland, won the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra's Vocal Competition last year, giving her a chance to sing a piece with the orchestra in concert. Eucharistic Convention organiser John Porteous heard Henrietta at Westlake Girls High School Music awards dinner last year and said: “Each year I search the world looking for suitably talented people for our convention, and tonight it's starring me in the face.”

Tickets for the Eucharistic Convention are available online and at the door: Adults -- $60 for Fri-Sat-Sun; Students and Senior Citizens $40; Under-15s free. More information is available at www.eucharistic-convention.com or Facebook (Eucharistic Convention - Auckland, NZ)

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