Category: Diocese of Scranton News

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Thanks to Jesus’ promise to be with his disciples always, the faithful can be fully present for others, especially those in need, Pope Francis told thousands of altar servers from around the world.

“Thanks to Jesus, always and only thanks to him — you also can say to your neighbor, ‘I am with you,’ not in words, but in deeds, with gestures, with your heart, with concrete closeness,” the pope told the young people July 30.

The faithful can show their closeness concretely, he said, “by weeping with those who weep, rejoicing with those who rejoice, without judgment or prejudice, without selfishness and excluding no one.”

This closeness is to be extended “even with those we might not like; with those different from me; with foreigners; with those whom we feel do not understand us; with those who never come to church; with those who say they do not believe in God,” he said.

The pope presided over an evening meeting of prayer, song and sharing experiences with nearly 50,000 altar servers from 20 countries making an international pilgrimage to Rome. The majority of young men and women came from Germany, but there also were pilgrims from Austria, Hungary, France and other countries. The last international pilgrimage was in Rome in 2018.

The pope first arrived by popemobile with a few children accompanying him. He spent about 20 minutes circling St. Peter’s Square, which was only about half-full, as well as a portion of the wide boulevard outside the square where thousands of visitors and altar servers were stuck, having not gotten to their seats in time before security closed the area. After the pope was seated in front of the basilica, security allowed the special guests to take their seats and fill the square.

Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich of Luxembourg is president of Coetus Internationalis Ministrantium, the association of altar servers that hosted the meeting along with the German bishops’ conference.

He told the pope that altar servers approach Jesus in a special way during their service at Mass. “Through the special bond with Christ comes a true friendship, a connection between us,” which also means “drawing closer to one another.”

Jesus inspires the faithful “to be true friends of all people with the help of Christ,” which means extending a hand to those in difficulty: the poor, the persecuted, the oppressed, the homeless, the unemployed, the refugees or those without a homeland, the cardinal said.

The pope gave brief remarks that were then translated into German for the crowd.

Reflecting on the pilgrimage’s theme of “With You,” the pope said, “Your experience of serving the liturgy reminds me that the first subject, the agent of this ‘with you,’ is God.”

“This occurs above all during Mass, in the Eucharist, where the God who is ‘with you’ becomes a real and concrete presence in the body and blood of Christ,” he said. “When we receive holy Communion, we experience that Jesus is ‘with us’ both spiritually and physically.”

“You too, in Communion, can say to the Lord Jesus, ‘I am with you,’ not in words, but with your heart and your body, with your love. Precisely because Jesus is with us, we can truly be with him” and then with others, he said.

The pope thanked the young people “for coming here as pilgrims in order to share the joy of belonging to Jesus, of being servants of his love, servants of his wounded heart that heals our wounds, that saves us from death and that gives us eternal life.”

At the end of the prayer service, the pope spent another 20 minutes greeting the many bishops who had accompanied their dioceses’ altar servers and scores of young people seated in front of the basilica, signing the back of their tickets, taking selfies, exchanging remarks and receiving gifts.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis has called on political leaders to be at the service of the poor, the unemployed and the common good.

The world cannot promote “universal fraternity” without good politics, the pope said in a video message released July 30 by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network.

The network posts a short video of the pope offering his specific prayer intention each month. For the month of August, the pope dedicated his prayer intention to political leaders.

“Today, politics doesn’t have a very good reputation: corruption, scandals, distant from people’s day-to-day lives,” Pope Francis said.

“But, can we move ahead toward universal fraternity without good politics? No,” he said.

Good politics, as St. Paul VI defined it, is “one of the highest forms of charity because it seeks the common good,” Pope Francis said.

As opposed to “politicking,” he said, it is a “politics that listens to what is really going on, that’s at the service of the poor, not the kind that’s holed up in huge buildings with large hallways.”

“I’m speaking of the politics that’s concerned about the unemployed” and understands what it is like for people who are not able to work, he said.

“If we look at it this way, politics is much more noble than it appears,” he said.

“Let’s be grateful for the many politicians who carry out their duties with a will to serve, not of power, who put all their efforts toward the common good,” the pope said.

“Let us pray that political leaders be at the service of their own people, working for integral human development and the common good, taking care of those who have lost their jobs and giving priority to the poorest,” he said.

WASHINGTON (OSV News) – Legislation under consideration in Congress would help faith-based organizations respond to a shortage in affordable housing by easing restrictions on the use of their land to develop affordable housing, supporters say.

The Yes in God’s Backyard Act, introduced in March by Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, would provide technical assistance to faith-based and nonprofit groups interested in using land they already own to respond to housing shortages in their communities, as well as technical assistance to local governments to facilitate training on best practices for working with such groups.

The bill would also create challenge grants to provide additional resources to communities that ease burdensome regulations on affordable rental housing on property owned by faith-based organizations and institutions of higher education.

In a July 12 letter to members of Congress, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops urged lawmakers to pass the bill, arguing it would “would help faith-based and nonprofit organizations improve their capacity to meet the housing needs of poor and vulnerable community members.”

Metropolitan Archbishop Borys A. Gudziak of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, said, “The United States is in the midst of a profound and prolonged housing crisis. A systemic lack of affordable housing drives up housing costs for low-income households, exacerbating their financial insecurity.”

The legislation, he argued, would help the church serve low-income individuals and families at risk of homelessness by “empowering faith-based and other nonprofit institutions to use their resources responsibly to serve more vulnerable families.”

Brown’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from OSV News about the status of the bill, but a review of the Congressional Record shows its status has been unchanged since it was referred to the Senate Housing committee in March.

In a March 12 statement issued when he introduced the legislation, Brown said, “Housing is too expensive and too hard to find in almost every community in America.

“This is a common sense solution – families need more housing, and churches, synagogues, and other religious organizations want to put their faith into action by developing housing on land they already own.” Brown said. “By helping these institutions cut through red tape, we can lower the cost of housing and expand options in Ohio and around the country.”

Other signatories on the USCCB letter included Jesuit Father Christopher Kellerman, secretary of the Office of Justice and Ecology at the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States; Kerry Alys Robinson, president and CEO of Catholic Charities USA; and John Barry, president of the National Council of the United States for the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.

According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, the U.S. has a shortage of 7.3 million rental homes that are affordable and available to renters with extremely low incomes, defined as incomes “at or below either the federal poverty guideline or 30% of their area median income, whichever is greater.” The group’s data shows that only 34 affordable and available rental homes exist for every 100 extremely low-income renter households.

LOS ANGELES (OSV News) – Jesus Christ may have been the main protagonist at the National Eucharistic Congress July 17-21, but the golden, unusually large monstrance used to carry him each night before thousands at Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium caught people’s attention, too.

Where did they get such a big, beautiful monstrance from? And as one reporter jokingly asked, had Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens of Crookston, Minnesota, board chairman of the National Eucharistic Congress Inc., been lifting weights to be able to carry it through the stadium?

The monstrance, Bishop Cozzens told journalists at the congress, was actually the same model that organizers had seen images of Los Angeles Archbishop José H. Gomez use in a Eucharistic procession through the streets of San Gabriel in March 2023.

Almost immediately after the event, congress organizers at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops asked Archbishop Gomez’s office, “Where can we get one of those?”

The inquiry led them to Father Miguel Angel Ruiz, a 31-year-old Los Angeles priest ordained in 2019 with roots in Guadalajara, Mexico. Father Ruiz was known for having the same monstrance, and often lending it to other priests in the Los Angeles Archdiocese for special events. It was his monstrance, in fact, that the late LA Auxiliary Bishop David G. O’Connell borrowed when he famously blessed Los Angeles in the early days of the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020.

Father Ruiz told the officials that the monstrance was made by a liturgical store in Guadalajara, Articulos Religiosos San Jose. They ordered an exact replica of the monstrance — one of the store’s most popular ones — in a hurry, since Pope Francis had agreed to bless it in a private audience in Rome a few weeks later.

Four feet tall and weighing more than 20 pounds, the new monstrance — together with hosts specially sized for it — was shipped from Guadalajara to Tijuana, where Father Ruiz drove to pick it up. From across the border in San Diego, he had it shipped to USCCB headquarters in Washington, just in time for the congress delegation led by Bishop Cozzens to bring it to Rome for the pope’s blessing.
“It’s big. It’s beautiful,” the pope said with a smile to members of the congress planning team at the June 19, 2023, meeting.

Father Ruiz, now administrator at Our Lady of the Rosary of Talpa Church in East LA, told Angelus, the archdiocesan news outlet, that his personal connection with the monstrance actually began at a convent in Guadalajara he used to visit as a seminarian.

While praying before the Blessed Sacrament in the convent’s adoration room, “I would think to myself, ‘When I become a priest, I want one like that one,'” he recalled.

A few years later, the sisters at the convent purchased the monstrance as a gift for Father Ruiz’s ordination to the priesthood. The rest, as he says, “is history.”

(OSV News) – Ethiopian Cardinal Berhaneyesus Demerew Souraphiel of Addis Ababa has expressed deep sorrow at the deadly landslide in Gofa Zone, in the southern part of Ethiopia, where the death toll has reportedly reached 257.

Humanitarian agencies, including those that are faith-based, have scrambled to rush emergency relief to Kencho Shacha Gozdi, a remote village in the Gofa Zone, following the first landslide that struck July 22.

Gofa Zone is part of the state known as Southern Ethiopia, about 199 miles from the capital, Addis Ababa. Days of heavy rains in this part of Ethiopia triggered the landslide. Images of people digging through the mud, carrying bodies and women wailing have spread since.

Following the first landslide that engulfed four homes, local people rushed to the scene, digging through mud to rescue their fellow villagers. But another landslide hit July 22, swallowing many of those who were attempting to rescue the victims.

“This tragic event has resulted in a significant loss of life. We offer our heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of those who have lost their loved ones,” said Cardinal Souraphiel in a July 25 statement.

“As urgent rescue and humanitarian assistance are needed, on behalf of the Ethiopian Catholic Church, I express my profound sorrow and assure you of our unwavering support to the affected zone,” the statement said.

The United Nations put the death toll at 257 July 25, while warning that the number could rise to 500. This came as hundreds of young men for the third day continued to dig through mud — with their bare hands, spades and pickaxes — in hope of finding more survivors.

The number of missing persons is still unknown, but reports indicate that administrators, teachers, agriculturalists and other professionals were lost in the tragedy.

Cardinal Souraphiel, who is also the president of Ethiopia’s bishops’ conference, said the Development Office of the Ethiopian bishops, priests and staff of the Sodo Vicariate, and representatives of the Catholic Relief Services had visited the disaster site and witnessed the extent of the damage. CRS, the humanitarian relief and development agency of the U.S. bishops, has a strong presence in Ethiopia, responding to man-made and natural disasters and also supporting mitigation and recovery activities.

“I call upon all Catholics and people of goodwill to contribute in any way they can to the recovery efforts,” the cardinal said.

Archbishop Abune Mathias, patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, offered his condolences to the families affected by the landslide.

In a July 24 statement, the patriarch noted that while Ethiopia had faced its share of tragic events, the magnitude of this disaster was particularly difficult to comprehend. He stressed the importance of faith in times of crisis, highlighting the belief in the resurrection of the dead as a source of comfort and solace.

Archbishop Mathias called for prayers and support for the victims and their families, and urged the community to come together in solidarity and compassion.

Since the disaster, humanitarian agencies have been dispatching food, nutrition, health and other critical supplies to help people affected by the landslides.

An estimated 15,000 people at risk of further landslides need to be evacuated from the region, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Among these are at least 1,300 children under 5 and over 5,000 pregnant and lactating women.

In Ethiopia, Africa’s second populous nation, more than 21 million people, or about 18% of the population, live on humanitarian assistance. This is due to climate change-driven disasters, including floods and drought, and conflicts.

A war fought between the national army and the rulers of the northern region of Tigray left at least 1,5 million people displaced.

INDIANAPOLIS (OSV News) – As five days of the National Eucharistic Congress concluded with one final revival and a beautiful solemn Mass in Lucas Oil Stadium — Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens of Crookston, Minnesota, board chairman of the National Eucharistic Congress Inc., stood in Lucas Oil Stadium.

“I have a question for you,” he told the crowd. “This is the 10th National Eucharistic Congress – do you think we should do an 11th one?”

Some 60,000 congress participants – representing 50 U.S. states, 17 countries, and various Eastern and Western churches, and speaking over 40 languages – cheered wildly in the stadium.

They also again rose to their feet to give the U.S. Catholic bishops an enthusiastic standing ovation for making possible the five-day congress with its impact sessions, breakout sessions, special events, revival nights with Eucharistic adoration and Benediction and beautifully celebrated reverent Masses.

The event reflected the diversity of a church all united in the same Eucharistic Lord and eager to use their gifts for a new Pentecost in the church.

The first day of the July 17-21 congress began with an evening revival as the 30 perpetual pilgrims, who had walked the four National Eucharistic Pilgrimage routes, took their final official steps of their eight-week journey into the stadium carrying icons of each route’s respective patron saints – St. Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin, St. Junipero Serra, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and the Blessed Virgin Mary – that were put around the altar where the Blessed Sacrament was placed.

“How will we know that we are experiencing Eucharistic revival?” Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the papal nuncio to the U.S., asked in his keynote speech July 17, encouraging everyone to surrender their hearts to the Lord over the next few days. “When we are truly revived by the Eucharist,” he said, “then our encounter with Christ’s real presence in the sacrament opens us to an encounter with him in the rest of our life” and then “spills over in our daily life, a life of relating to others, our way of seeing others.”

Every day of the congress began with most congress-goers joining in beautifully and reverently celebrated Eucharistic liturgies in the stadium — including a July 20 Holy Qurbana, the Syro-Malabar form of the Eucharistic liturgy, prayed in English. Additional morning and evening Masses at nearby sites in different languages, such as Spanish or Vietnamese, or in different forms, such as the Byzantine rite or the older usage of the Roman rite.

Three days of the congress, July 18-20, were split between seven morning impact sessions and nearly 20 afternoon breakout sessions on a variety of topics meant to form, equip and inspire people, including clergy, to live more deeply their faith in light of Jesus making himself truly present in the Eucharist — and how to practically bring what they have learned into their parishes, ministries, groups and families.

The exhibit halls in the Indiana Convention Center were packed throughout the congress, as long lines formed for exhibits such as the Shroud of Turin or Eucharistic miracles. Religious sisters provided a kind of spiritual air traffic control that guided people to the lengthy confession lines.

The convention center was also a place where the spontaneity of joy could be seen and felt. Young people marched through chanting their love for Jesus, while further on, a group of Catholic women, dressed in traditional apparel from Cameroon, sang and danced their love for Jesus and Mary to the delight of people who gathered around them.

Congress-goers had the opportunity to attend off-site events such as The Catholic Project’s panel discussion July 19 that explored the challenges of navigating the dating landscape as Catholics.

Tens of thousands of congress-goers at the revivals — and the liturgies as well — eagerly joined their voices in singing the beautiful hymns and chants, both traditional and contemporary, in English, Spanish, Latin and other languages. The congress saw the musicianship of Dave and Lauren Moore, Sarah Kroger and Matt Maher, as well as the talents of the men’s ensemble Floriani and the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra.

“The reverence was just awe-inspiring, and that’s something I would like to take back to our parish,” Deacon Robb Caputo of the Diocese of Peoria, Illinois, told OSV News.

The nightly revival sessions created a sensory experience of awe around the Eucharistic Lord, as tens of thousands prayed in silent contemplation before the Eucharist on the altar — illuminated in the dark stadium by spotlights. Adoring Jesus in the stadium, concluding with Benediction, was the pinnacle movement of each evening.

Keynote speakers and testimonies helped keep people’s eyes fixed on Jesus’ personal love for them and his desire to be close to them.

One such nightly revival, focused on healing, indicated the problem with Catholic belief in the Eucharist – was more about the heart than the head, and needed Catholics to repent of their indifference to Jesus.

“Knowledge can make us great, but only love can make a saint,” said Father Mike Schmitz, the Diocese of Duluth, Minnesota, priest known for chart-topping podcasts “The Bible in a Year” and “The Catechism in a Year.” Mother Olga of the Sacred Heart, who survived four wars in the Middle East, recounted how in the midst of her own personal suffering she heard Jesus say in her heart: “That even on the cross and through the cross, we can still choose to love.”

Jonathan Roumie, the actor famous for his portrayal of Jesus in the hit miniseries “The Chosen,” told the audience at the final revival night July 20 after reading Jesus’ Bread of Life discourse from John 6, “The Eucharist for me is healing. The Eucharist for me is peace, the Eucharist for me is my grounding. The Eucharist for me is his heart within me.”

Congress organizers also made intentional efforts to be inclusive of families and those with disabilities, particularly those with sensory disorders, so they could also experience the congress and participate fully in the experience.

Murielle and Dominic Blanchard of Gallup, New Mexico, navigated the congress with six children aged 8 and under, including 20-month twins, and a baby on the way. They said the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd atrium was key for them, because it provided both formation for their older children and had space for the twins to play.

Throughout the congress, the historic and stately St. John’s Catholic Church across from the Indiana Convention Center’s main entrance fulfilled its role as a spiritual hub. A steady flow of pilgrims came and went from the main church during 24-hour adoration throughout the congress. It had times for silence as well as times geared toward families, where children were invited to get close to the Eucharist, put a flower in a vase near the monstrance, and just adore as beautiful, simple melodies lifted up the packed church in prayer.

More than 1,200 religious sisters and brothers, 1,170 priests, 630 deacons, 610 seminarians and 200 bishops participated in the congress, according to congress organizers. At a press conference July 19, Philadelphia Archbishop Nelson J. Pérez said he had never seen anything like the congress, as a non-papal event, in his 35 years of priesthood.

“You can sense the energy of what’s happening here, which is touching hearts,” he said, adding the experience was making him think about how to respond to the need for the church’s sacraments to be more accessible.

The highlight came July 20 as tens of thousands of Catholics followed behind the truck-pulled, flower-rimmed float carrying the Blessed Sacrament accompanied by Bishop Cozzens and Indianapolis Archbishop Charles C. Thompson. They walked 10 blocks from the convention center through downtown Indianapolis to the Indiana War Memorial Plaza for what Bishop Cozzens said “might be the largest Eucharistic procession in the country in decades.”

Nancy Leuhrmann of Cincinnati told OSV News the experience, which culminated in Eucharistic adoration and Benediction at the plaza, was “really wonderful, seeing all the people just quiet, reverent and joyful.” Leuhrmann said the security presence didn’t have much to do and she noted the officers thanked the crowd for making their jobs easy.

At the sending-forth Mass July 21, Pope Francis’ special envoy to the congress, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, delivered a homily with warmth, joy and humor that made participants both laugh and feel inspired as he told them, “A Eucharistic people is a missionary and evangelizing people.”

“We should not keep Jesus to ourselves,” he said, exhorting them not to use their time in church to escape others, but to “share Jesus’ tender love” with “the weary, the hungry and suffering … the lost, confused and weak.”

“Go and share Jesus’ gift of reconciliation and peace to those who are divided,” he said, emphasizing, “Let us proclaim Jesus joyfully and zealously for the life of the world!”

Bishop Cozzens revealed there would be another National Eucharistic Pilgrimage in 2025 from Indianapolis to Los Angeles, and possibly an earlier National Eucharistic Congress than 2033.

But he invited people to take this experience of the congress and — echoing Cardinal Tagle’s call for Eucharistic “missionary conversion” — join the congress’s “Walk with One” initiative.

“Commit yourself to walking with one person,” he said. “Commit yourself to becoming a Eucharistic missionary, someone who lives deeply a Eucharistic life, and having received that gift, allows themselves to be given as a gift.”

INDIANAPOLIS (OSV News) – The five days of the 10th National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis could not have ended in a more fitting way — with the celebration of the Eucharist with more than 50,000 people gathered at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Usually the home field of the Indianapolis Colts, for one last day, the stadium was filled with people adoring and praising Jesus Christ, hearts overflowing with love and gratitude for what they had experienced over the past week.

The Mass was celebrated by papal envoy Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, who was present in Indianapolis for the entire congress, and who greeted participants in many different languages. In a homily delivered with energy, joy and humor, Cardinal Tagle thanked “the God who is Love … for gathering us a family of faith at this closing Mass of the National Eucharistic Congress.”

Cardinal Tagle, who serves the Holy See as the pro-prefect of the Section for the First Evangelization and New Particular Churches of the Dicastery for Evangelization, said he brought with him the “fatherly, paternal blessings” of Pope Francis, who “prays, as we all do, that the congress may bear much fruit for the renewal of the church and of society in the United States of America.”

The message of Pope Francis to congress-goers, he said, was “conversion to the Eucharist.”

As attendees prepared to leave the five transformative days of the national congress, and were commissioned to go forth to spread the Gospel anew, Cardinal Tagle reflected on the connection between “Eucharistic conversion” and “missionary conversion.”

Those who go out on mission are a “gift” to the church and to the world.

“Mission is not just about work but also about the gift of oneself,” he said. “Jesus fulfills his mission by giving himself, his flesh, his presence to others as the Father wills it. The presence of Jesus in the Eucharist is a gift and the fulfillment of his mission.”

Where there is “a lack or a weakening of missionary zeal,” it could be that it is “partly due to a weakening in the appreciation of gifts and giftedness,” he said.

“When pessimism takes over, we see only darkness, failures, problems, things to complain about,” he continued. “We do not see gifts in persons and events. And those who do not see gifts in themselves and in others, they will not give gifts; they will not go on a mission.”

The cardinal asked those present to examine their own consciences in considering why some people choose to walk away from the Eucharistic Lord, preferring “his absence rather than his presence in their lives.”

“I invite you to pause and ask rather painful questions about this mysterious rejection of Jesus by his disciples — by his disciples,” Cardinal Tagle said. “Is it possible that we disciples contribute to the departure of others from Jesus?

“Why do some people leave Jesus, when he is giving the most precious gift of eternal life? Why do some baptized turn away from the gift of Jesus in the Eucharist?” he asked.”Does our biblical, catechetical and liturgical formation allow the gift of Jesus’ person to shine forth clearly? Does our Eucharistic celebration manifest Jesus’ presence or does it obscure the presence of Jesus?”

Finally, the cardinal said, as attendees go forth, will they stay with Jesus?

“Those who choose to stay with Jesus will be sent by Jesus,” he said. “The gift of his presence and love for us will be our gift to people. We should not keep Jesus to ourselves. That is not discipleship. That is selfishness. The gift we have received we should give as a gift.”

He invited them to “share Jesus’ tender love” with “the weary, the hungry and suffering.”

“Go and share Jesus’ shepherd’s caress to the lost, confused and weak. … Go and share Jesus’ gift of reconciliation and peace to those who are divided,” he said.

“A Eucharistic people is a missionary and evangelizing people,” he said. “Let us proclaim Jesus joyfully and zealously for the life of the world!”

During and after Communion, the stadium was filled with strains of traditional Eucharistic hymns, including “Panis Angelicus” and Mozart’s “Ave Verum Corpus” performed by the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. The musicians also performed the original score “the Mass of Peace” composed by Dave Moore, the director of liturgy and music for the National Eucharistic Congress, and his wife, Lauren. The Moores, founders of the Catholic Music Initiative, “a nonprofit apostolate that creates beautiful and singable music for Mass,” also performed during the closing Mass and revival session.

Before the mission-sending Mass, the congress held a morning revival. Mother Adela Galindo, founder of the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary, encouraged them to see Mary as the model Eucharistic missionary and urged attendees to share the visible fruits of what they experienced.

“This is a new chapter in the life of the church, a chapter that we will write with the power of the Holy Spirit,” she said.

“What we have freely received, we have to freely give,” she said. “We must be witnesses and ardent missionaries of the Eucharist and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

At that revival, Chris Stefanick, founder of Real Life Catholic, told the crowd that every Communion is a reminder of God’s love and this demands a radical response by sharing the Gospel with confidence, rejoicing in his love even when life is hard, and above all, striving to become a saint.

“Every single human heart is made for the love that is Jesus Christ,” he said.

“Some people have likened this conference to a Pentecost moment,” Stefanick said. “Ask for the grace that he promised to make us his witnesses.”

At the conclusion of the Mass, Bishop Andew H. Cozzens of Crookston, Minnesota, board chairman of the National Eucharistic Congress Inc., stood before the crowd in Lucas Oil Stadium and received a standing ovation.

“I have a question for you,” he told the crowd. “This is the 10th National Eucharistic Congress — do you think we should do an 11th one?”

The stadium roared with approving cheers and applause. He said that congress organizers had already been planning for the next congress in 2033, the Year of Redemption — 2,000 years after Jesus’ death and resurrection — but they’re now considering organizing another Eucharistic congress even sooner.

“We’ll keep discerning and let you know,” he said with a smile, to audience laughter.

He also announced another National Eucharistic Pilgrimage next year, starting in Indianapolis and arriving in Los Angeles in time for Corpus Christi Sunday, June 22, 2025, and that Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles said he would welcome “all of you.”

He also asked the crowd if they would accept the bishops’ invitation to join the Walk With One initiative by identifying a person they can accompany to better know Jesus.

“Commit yourself to walking with one person,” he said. “Commit yourself to becoming a Eucharistic missionary, someone who lives deeply a Eucharistic life, and having received that gift, allows themselves to be given as a gift.”

Already the congress’s fire of Eucharistic revival showed signs of spreading beyond the U.S. as tens of thousands of Catholics left Lucas Oil Stadium in the orchestral afterglow of the final stirring hymn, “O God Beyond All Praising.”

Christina Nugent, 18, traveled with her 20-year-old sister to the congress from Calgary, Alberta, and told OSV News she would love to see a similar event for Catholics in Canada.

Rather than be satisfied with her personal experience of the congress, “this has really pushed me to see what I can do for others when I get home,” she said. “They’re like, ‘If you’re in love with someone, you would tell people about it.’ So if you’re in love with Jesus, you should be telling people about it. That’s my takeaway.”

After the Mass, Bishop Cozzens told OSV News he is “just filled with so much gratitude for what God has done, and really the power of the Holy Spirit that’s present here.”

“It’s hard to put into words what the whole experience has been, from the beginning to the end, so beautiful and such a sense of God renewing his church,” he said. “I’m so grateful for what God has done.”

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.