Catholics from across the country gather in Indiana for National Eucharistic Congress

Tens of thousands of Catholics from across the United States gathered to praise the Lord in Eucharistic adoration this week at an NFL stadium during the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis.

July 19, 2024

Big smiles for a group from the Diocese of Sacramento, California, as they wait in the long line to complete their convention registration at the Indiana Convention Center, July 15, 2024. | Credit: Jeffrey Bruno/EWTN

By Courtney Mares
Tens of thousands of Catholics from across the United States gathered to praise the Lord in Eucharistic adoration this week at an NFL stadium during the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis.

Bishop Andrew Cozzens of Crookston, Minn., who led the U.S. bishops’ initiative for eucharistic renewal, called the congress a “moment of unity” for the church in the United States.

As the bishop held up the Blessed Sacrament in a massive, four-foot monstrance in the center of Lucas Oil Stadium, the crowd prayed together: “Jesus, I trust in you.”

For many, the journey to Indianapolis was a pilgrimage of profound spiritual meaning. Parishes, religious orders, families, priests and lay people embarked on their journey by plane, car and foot, motivated by a deep desire to deepen their relationship with the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.

Diane Hanley traveled nearly 600 miles with three other women from Little Rock, Arkansas, for a “girls’ trip” to the convention July 17-21.

“There’s been blessing all along the way,” Hanley said.

“It took us about three hours to pray a rosary in the car, because of all the intentions and all the thoughts and everything else,” she added. “So the journey is part of the joy.”

One hundred and fifty people traveled from the Diocese of Sacramento, California, including Josie, who said she came to the conference to receive Christ and be able to evangelize better.

“I am an evangelist in my community and I feel like I need more learning experience to be able to better evangelize people because Christ is love and I just love him,” she said.

Dominic and Cassidy Mann, newlyweds from Cleveland, ages 23 and 21, are celebrating their first wedding anniversary at the convention. They told CNA they came to the National Eucharistic Congress to “experience Jesus on a whole new level.”

“Our first experience as Eucharistic ministers was at our wedding, so being able to experience this and spend our year at the congress is just very beautiful and meaningful,” Dominic said.

“The Eucharist has been a big part of our marriage,” Cassidy added. As young Catholics, growing together in faith through courtship, engagement and marriage has been “transformative in our relationship,” she said.

The Manns weren’t the only couple to reach a relationship milestone at the convention.

Charlie Chengary, 21, and Katherine Blawas, 22, a young couple from Chicago and Ohio, respectively, got engaged in Indianapolis on the eve of the convention. The two began dating a little over a year ago after meeting on Catholic Match.

“I have never been to a place where there are so many Catholics. It’s like a taste of heaven,” Blawas said.

Jaella Mac Au, 20, traveled 2,200 miles across 12 states in two months as a pilgrim in one of four Eucharistic pilgrimage groups that crossed the United States to arrive at the convention.

His pilgrimage group began its journey by crossing the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco in a Eucharistic procession.

She said tears came to her eyes when she finally arrived in Indianapolis this week.

“It was wonderful and beautiful,” Mac Au said. “We were the first ones to get here… and I thought, ‘I don’t think we’re really here.’”

She added that her pilgrim experience helped her understand that Jesus “is not content to sit in a church,” but wants to be brought into the world for all to see.

“The Lord is present in his body, blood, soul and divinity,” she said. “He desires to go out and proclaim the good news that he sees us and loves us.”

Sister Faustina and Sister Anastasia Marie, Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles, came with a delegation of 22 sisters to the congress.

“The Eucharist is the center of our spirituality. Everything we do comes from our relationship with our Lord, and we spend a large part of our day in prayer and then we go out to serve in the apostolate,” Sister Faustina said.

“We meet the Lord in the Eucharist and we also go to meet him with his people. And all this comes from the encounter with him in the Eucharist.”

Sister Anastasia Marie added that she prays that people can “have a deeper encounter with God’s mercy through the Eucharist” during the congress.

On the first day of the National Eucharistic Congress, many people had to wait. Brian and Angela Barcelos of Raynham, Massachusetts, waited more than an hour and a half to pick up their congress badges, but they didn’t seem too upset. “We’re here for the Eucharist!” Brian said.

More than 54,000 people had purchased tickets for the congress as of July 17, according to organizers.

The participants in the congress, which includes more than 1,000 priests and 200 bishops and cardinals, are represented by all 50 states and 17 countries.

“I feel like I’ve learned a lot from this just by being in line,” Blawas said.

Bishop John Doerfler of Marquette, Michigan, was joined by 50 people from his diocese who traveled from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to the convention.

The bishop hosted a diocesan Eucharistic congress as part of the national Eucharistic renewal that preceded the national congress. He said he looked forward to meeting Catholics from across the country over the next five days.

“This is a privileged opportunity for us to deepen the bonds of our unity of faith in the Lord Jesus and to show him our great gratitude for the precious gift he gives us of himself in the Holy Eucharist,” Doerfler said.

The National Association of African Catholics in the United States has registered more than 90 people for the conference.

The group performed praise and worship songs from East and West Africa, bringing their cultural heritage from Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Zimbabwe and Ivory Coast to the stage of the congress’s exhibition hall.

“The celebration of the Eucharist is at the heart of everything we do,” said Sally Stovall, the association’s president. “That’s what the African community is trying to show by making our cultural heritage known to everyone, so that everyone can see how we celebrate the feast in our countries.”

Tim Glemkowski, a father of four and CEO of the National Eucharistic Congress, told CNA he hopes every congress attendee will encounter Jesus personally and be sent on a mission to share Christ’s love with the world.

“About two and a half years of planning went into this moment, and it’s incredible to see it come to fruition even more than we expected in so many ways,” Glemkowski said.

“God is with his Church right now. All of this has happened – the incredible pilgrimage with 250,000 people joining and 50,000 people here – all of this is possible because God is doing something in his Church right now. So we need to be attentive to that and open to what he is trying to do today.”–CNA