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Thousands of Catholics from across the United States are participating in the pilgrimage to the 10th National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, part of the U.S. bishops’ three-year National Eucharistic Revival that began in 2021. The pilgrimage has four routes, with one beginning in the north, south, east and west of the country.
Pilgrims traveling in the “Eucharistic caravans” on all four routes began their journeys with Pentecost weekend celebrations May 17-18, 2024, leaving May 19. They all converged on Indianapolis July 16, 2024, the day before the five-day Congress opened.
The pilgrimage was an opportunity for prayer and evangelization, as well as a way to engage Catholics unable to attend the Congress, said Tim Glemkowski, the National Eucharistic Congress’ executive director.
“What the pilgrimage does is it builds us in prayerful anticipation for what God is going to do at the Congress,” he told OSV News May 5. “It’s two months of us pilgrimaging, fasting, praying, interceding, asking the Lord to renew his church, his bride, in those five days. … They’re not two different things. It’s one pilgrimage: five days of which happen in a stadium in Indianapolis, and two months of which happen across our country on the way there.”
Weekend stops in major cities will include special liturgies, Eucharistic adoration, processions and service opportunities, Glemkowski said.
The northern “Marian Route” begins in northern Minnesota at Lake Itasca, the headwaters of the Mississippi River, and passes through Notre Dame, Indiana, before arriving in Indianapolis.
The “Juan Diego Route” begins more than 1,600 miles south of Lake Itasca in Brownsville, Texas, at the U.S.-Mexico border.
The “Seton Route” — named for St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, the first U.S.-born saint — begins in New Haven, Connecticut.
The “Junipero Serra Route” begins in San Francisco.
Each pilgrimage route is expected to have 12 “perpetual pilgrims,” young adults, including two seminarians, committed to traveling the entire route, from their launch points to Indianapolis. Each route also will include priest chaplains who will carry the Eucharist, usually in a monstrance specially designed for the pilgrimage.