How do I open Eclipse with the console installed on OS X?

I need to start an RCP Eclipse application with a terminal connected to it and cannot do that. Eclipse itself has the same problem. I added the default "-console" option to eclipse.ini, but the console is not displayed. However, when I run Contents/MacOS/eclipse

directly, it works and shows the console! What is the difference in the two launch paths and why an easy way to show the console?