Pope Francis sent Cardinal Charles Maung Bo of Myanmar as his papal legate[1] and presider at the opening Mass on January 24.

[2] This was the second time that the Philippines hosted the International Eucharistic Congress, with the first one held in Manila on February 3–7, 1937.

The Philippine National Police's Regional Office 7 ensured safety and security for the event and its ad hoc task group on the IEC and Sinulog requested additional support from Camp Crame, including the Explosives Ordnance Division and bomb-sniffing dog squad of the Philippine military.

[13] Cardinal Bo along with other church officials visited the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center.

Bo was joined by Cebu Archbishop José S. Palma and the papal legate's protocol officer Fr.

[15] In the morning at the IEC Pavilion, Cardinals John Onaiyekan of Nigeria and Oswald Gracias of India spoke on the Eucharist.

He also criticized the government of Saudi Arabia and ISIS for the practice of crucifixion, the former for using it for capital punishment and the latter for using it against Christians in disrespect for the sacredness of the symbol of the cross.

Onaiyekan said that despite all this, "the cross still remains the symbol of the victory of the Lord Jesus,”[17] The second Mass of the IEC was held at 4:00 pm local time.

A grand procession was held after the Mass with a custom-made, gold-plated brass monstrance on a float accompanying devotees.

The Cebu IEC produced the first daily print of the CBCP Monitor covering the proceedings and other relevant stories about the Eucharistic Congress.

With assistance from the Supreme Office of the Knights of Columbus, the main satellite uplink was provided by Apstar Global which enabled the broadcasting of the IEC to as far as Italy and the United States.

The EWTN Global Catholic Network which had a reach of 144 countries, RAI of Italy, and Centro Televisivo Vaticano covered the event, as well as Radyo Veritas in Luzon and DYRF for Visayas and Mindanao, besides the stations of the Catholic Media Network.