Pope Benedict XVI will not attend the Congress, much to the disappointment of organizers and Quebeckers. However, around the time he the announcement was made, the Pope appointed Ouellet recording secretary of the Synod, which will gather about 250 bishops from around the world on the theme: “The Word of God in the life and mission of the Church.”

“I was moved by the gesture of the Holy Father, in the context of the difficulties I had over the fall,” Ouellet said in a telephone interview Jan. 31. “At the same time I am a bit scared because it is a lot of work,” he joked. “I will rest in 2009.

“My responsibility is to guide the whole work of the synod — technically and at the level of content,” he said.

Ouellet had just returned from a week in Rome, where he has already begun his work in helping to focus the bishops’ reflections. During the Synod next October, he will introduce the reflections and, after 10 days, integrate what has been heard so far. When it is over, he will oversee the development of a unified message. His experience as president of the commission of the message in the 2005 Synod of the Eucharist prepared him for his new role.

“Now it will be an opportunity to finalize the link between the Word and the Eucharist and to show the unity between the liturgy of the Word and the liturgy of the Eucharist,” he said, stressing the importance of the Word of God as “the ground of everything.”

“God is speaking to His people through the reading of the Bible and the ritual itself, what we call the sacramental Word,” he said, noting how in the liturgy the “Word is made eucharistic flesh.” Ouellet also noted that much of the New Testament started first as part of the liturgy before becoming part of the scriptural canon.

The Pope’s honouring him with the prominent role followed the barrage of criticism Ouellet faced after he blamed Quebec’s social ills such as a low birth rate, high suicide rate and problems welcoming immigrants on the collapse of Catholicism. When he followed up his controversial brief to a commission studying reasonable accommodation with a letter of apology for the sins committed by members of the Catholic Church in Quebec prior to 1960, the hostile reaction grew, leading newscasts and front pages across Canada.

In late November, Ouellet, the archbishop of Quebec, met with the Pope, hoping for a positive answer to his invitation to attend the Congress. The Pope told him then he was “still pondering,” but “he explained how difficult it would be for him to have three intercontinental trips,” he said. The pope had already committed to going to the United States in April to address the United Nations, and to Sydney, Australia, in July for World Youth Day. Thus Ouellet was not surprised at the official notice he received in early January that the Pope would not attend the Eucharistic Congress.

“It was a bit tough,” he said. “We have to overcome these sorts of feelings and really address the situation and reorganize things without the Holy Father.

“Our publicity since the beginning was on the Eucharistic Congress,” he said. “This is the main focus. If people are coming only to see the pope they miss the event,” he said. “Now knowing the Pope is not coming, the focus will really be on the Eucharist the whole week, the Eucharist and the family.”

Ouellet remains optimistic the Pope will be able to participate via videoconferencing in the Congress, though he has not received final confirmation. He expects to know within a few weeks the name of the papal legate who will celebrate the closing Mass.

Fr. Pierre Paul, the choir director at St. Peter’s in Rome, will be handling the liturgy at the Congress. Paul, an Oblate originally from Canada, has spent 30 years in Rome.

“This gives me security,” he said, describing Paul as “very good in liturgical animation.”

Pleased with the variety of speakers and events throughout the week-long event and the family oriented focus, Ouellet’s immediate priority is to encourage people to register. More than 5,000 people from 52 countries have already signed up, but he hopes for 12,000 to 15,000. Information about the program of high profile speakers, including L’Arche founder Jean Vanier, is available at www.cei2008.ca.