A second National Eucharistic Pilgrimage next year will begin in Indianapolis and end in Los Angeles, the lead organizer of the 10th National Eucharistic Congress announced July 21 at the event’s conclusion.
“At this point, we’re planning next spring a pilgrimage — just one — that will begin in Indianapolis and end in Los Angeles,” said Bishop Andrew Cozzens of Crookston, Minnesota, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis.
“Archbishop [José H.] Gomez has already said that he would welcome all of you for Corpus Christi Sunday in Los Angeles in 2025,” added Cozzens to cheers and applause at the end of the Congress’ closing Mass with close to 50,000 people in Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium.
For Roman Catholics, Corpus Christ Sunday falls on June 22 next year.
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/Bob Roller)
Cozzens’ pilgrimage announcement came as he also announced plans to hold the next National Eucharistic Congress in 2033, marking the “year of redemption” — 2,000 years from the year tradition says Jesus Christ died and rose from the dead — or perhaps even sooner.
“We’ll keep discerning and we’ll let you know,” said Cozzens.
The decision to hold next year’s pilgrimage, Cozzens said, came from discussions among organizers to “continue to do the smaller things that we’ve done” during the National Eucharistic Revival launched by the U.S. bishops three years ago to encourage greater devotion and belief in the Eucharist among Catholics.
Archbishop Gomez said Sunday he was “excited to welcome the pilgrimage to Los Angeles next June.”
“We’ve witnessed the Spirit alive and moving with power through the Eucharistic Congress this week,” said Archbishop Gomez. “It’s clear that the revival of Eucharistic wonder, awe, and adoration in our land has begun and will continue to grow in the years ahead.”
Los Angeles Archbishop José H. Gomez incenses the Blessed Sacrament during a 6-mile eucharistic procession that went from Mission San Gabriel Arcángel to St. Luke the Evangelist Church in Temple City, then back to the mission, in March 2023. (Archdiocese of Los Angeles/Digital Team)
Archbishop Gomez was joined in Indianapolis for the July 17-21 Congress by more than 200 faithful from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, as well as a dozen LA priests and five auxiliary bishops.
“We leave Indianapolis today with a new commitment to walking with Jesus and inviting our brothers and sisters back to Mass and the beautiful encounter with the love of God,” he told Angelus.
This year’s Eucharistic Pilgrimage was organized into four routes traveling through the country’s western, southern, eastern, and midwestern regions ending in Indianapolis in time for the start of the Congress July 17.
The western itinerary, known as the Serra Route, began in San Francisco with a Eucharistic procession across the Golden Gate Bridge before crossing Northern California and several other states.
