Eucharistic pilgrimage planned for 2025, next congress before 2033

Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens of Crookston, Minn., chairman of the board of the National Eucharistic Congress Inc., announces July 21, 2024 — the final day of the National Eucharistic Congress at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis — that a Eucharistic pilgrimage from Indianapolis to Los Angeles is being planned for spring 2025. Congress organizers were also considering holding an 11th National Eucharistic Congress in 2033. (OSV News photo/Bob Roller)

INDIANAPOLIS (OSV News) — A Eucharistic pilgrimage from Indianapolis to Los Angeles is being planned for spring 2025, Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens of Crookston, Minnesota, announced July 21 at the end of the 10th National Eucharistic Congress' closing Mass.

Congress organizers had also been considering holding an 11th National Eucharistic Congress in 2033, the "Year of Redemption," 2,000 years after Jesus' death and resurrection, but they're now discerning organizing an event sooner, said Bishop Cozzens, board chairman of the National Eucharistic Congress, Inc., which organized the five-day congress and preceding eight-week Eucharistic pilgrimage.

Few logistics for next year's pilgrimage have been determined, Bishop Cozzens told OSV News following the Mass. The route will likely travel through the American Southwest, culminating in a Corpus Christi Mass in Los Angeles with Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles.

With more than 4 million Catholics, Los Angeles is home to the nation's largest Catholic population.

"We decided that we want to keep this tradition of a national Eucharistic pilgrimage going, and we're going to do one next year," Bishop Cozzens said. "The goal is basically to continue the renewal that's begun through these Eucharistic pilgrimages."

As for the timing of next Eucharistic congress, Bishop Cozzens said congress organizers have been inspired by "all the people at the congress saying that we have to do this again, and when we were telling people we're going to do it in 2033, they would say it's too late, we might lose momentum in nine years."

He noted that that sentiment came from congress benefactors and people who have been involved since the beginning.

"Maybe it should be something like the Olympics, every four years," he said. "I think the impact certainly grew more than any of us expected. And so, since it's been so impactful, we're going to discern what will serve the church as we go forward."

From May 17-18, Pentecost weekend, 30 young adult "perpetual pilgrims" traveled with the Eucharist along four routes, beginning in California, Connecticut, Minnesota and Texas.

Collectively, they traveled through 27 states and 65 dioceses, covering a combined distance of 6,500 miles — many of them on foot — with the help of support vehicles. Their pilgrimage included daily stops at parishes, shrines and Catholic institutions, for Mass, Eucharistic processions and adoration, while experiencing the array of Catholicism in America along the way.

The pilgrims converged in downtown Indianapolis July 16, ahead of the National Eucharistic Congress, at St. John the Evangelist, a historic Catholic church immediately across from the main entrance of the Indiana Convention Center. Speaking with OSV News, pilgrims described the experience as personally life-changing and described seeing its deep effects on many people who encountered the Eucharist through it.

The pilgrimage and congress are part of the National Eucharistic Revival, a three-year initiative of the U.S. bishops launched in 2022 to increase understanding of and love for Jesus in the Eucharist. The close of the congress launches the Year of Mission, during which the bishops are encouraging Catholics to "walk with one" by sharing their faith and accompanying another person to better know Jesus and his love.

By Maria Wiering is senior writer for OSV News.