PHOTOS: Massive Eucharistic procession through downtown Indianapolis

Jonah McKeown   By Jonah McKeown for CNA

July 20, 2024 Catholic News Agency News Briefs 0 Print

 

Bishops and priests process past the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in downtown Indianapolis. / Credit: Jonah McKeown/CNA

Indianapolis, Ind., Jul 20, 2024 / 23:45 pm (CNA).

Thousands of people lined the streets of Indianapolis July 20 for a one-mile Eucharistic procession from the Indiana Convention Center to the Indiana War Memorial, taking the National Eucharistic Revival to the streets in the most public display of devotion and unity of the five-day conference.

Catholics young and old lined the streets to watch Jesus pass by and join in the procession as it passed. Priests, bishops, seminarians, religious brothers and sisters, and many families with children made the walk, as well as a large group of children who recently made their First Communion.

null

The Eucharist, housed in a papally-blessed golden monstrance, traveled in a special trailer accompanied by Bishop Andrew Cozzens of Crookston, Minnesota, and Archbishop Charles Thompson of Indianapolis.

The Eucharist passes by the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in Indianapolis. Credit: Jonah McKeown/CNA
The Eucharist passes by the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in Indianapolis. Credit: Jonah McKeown/CNA

Those lining the streets kneeled as the Eucharist passed by. Spontaneous hymns broke out as the marchers processed.

Religious sisters pass by on the National Eucharistic Congress procession in Indianapolis. Credit: Jeffrey Bruno
Religious sisters pass by on the National Eucharistic Congress procession in Indianapolis. Credit: Jeffrey Bruno

Day four of the National Eucharistic Congress was the last full day of this historic event, the first of its kind to take place in the U.S. since World War II. An estimated 50,000 people descended on Indianapolis beginning on Wednesday for liturgies, talks, Eucharistic adoration, and fellowship with other Catholics. The fruit of the U.S. Catholic bishops’ multiyear project of Eucharistic Revival, the Congress aims to galvanize Catholics in their faith and love for the Eucharist as preparation for a special nationwide year of mission.

The Eucharist passes by the Soliders and Sailors Monument in Indianapolis. Credit: Jonah McKeown/CNA
The Eucharist passes by the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in Indianapolis. Credit: Jonah McKeown/CNA

Participants kneel and take pictures as the Eucharist approaches the Indiana War Memorial. Credit: Jonah McKeown/CNA
Participants kneel and take pictures as the Eucharist approaches the Indiana War Memorial. Credit: Jonah McKeown/CNA
Young participants kneel as the Eucharist passes by in downtown Indianapolis. Credit: Jeffrey Bruno
Young participants kneel as the Eucharist passes by in downtown Indianapolis. Credit: Jeffrey Bruno

Young participants kneel as the Eucharist passes by in downtown Indianapolis. Credit: Jeffrey Bruno
Young participants kneel as the Eucharist passes by in downtown Indianapolis. Credit: Jeffrey Bruno

Bishops and priests process past the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in downtown Indianapolis. Credit: Jonah McKeown/CNA
Bishops and priests process past the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in downtown Indianapolis. Credit: Jonah McKeown/CNA

When the monstrance reached the Indiana War Memorial, Bishop Cozzens, who has spearheaded the Eucharistic Revival, prayed before Christ. Attendees who had walked with the procession flooded the large grassy mall in front of the monument, dropping to their knees.

Bishop Andrew Cozzens prays before the Blessed Sacrament on the Indiana War Memorial. Credit: Jeffrey Bruno
Bishop Andrew Cozzens prays before the Blessed Sacrament on the Indiana War Memorial. Credit: Jeffrey Bruno

“We thank you for the many graces you have poured out upon us. Jesus, pour them out across our whole land, across our whole world. Jesus, we know the procession we made today, it’s a symbol, a sign of our earthly pilgrimage, and it is not over. And this procession, perhaps the largest in our country in decades, and it was still too small. Millions of people in our own cities, in our own dioceses who don’t yet know you,” Cozzens prayed.

“So many do not know you. So many have not heard of your love. We know that you want all people, all nations, to join in this procession. We know you want all people to follow you. And Jesus, we will walk with them. Jesus, bring them to us. We want to walk them towards you, Jesus.”

Bishop Andrew Cozzens holds the Eucharist aloft over the faithful while standing on the Indiana War Memorial. Credit: Jeffrey Bruno
Bishop Andrew Cozzens holds the Eucharist aloft over the faithful while standing on the Indiana War Memorial. Credit: Jeffrey Bruno

The assembled faithful for the Eucharistic procession on the grassy mall in front of the Indiana War Memorial. Credit: Jeffrey Bruno
The assembled faithful for the Eucharistic procession on the grassy mall in front of the Indiana War Memorial. Credit: Jeffrey Bruno

The Congress will come to a close tomorrow, Sunday, with a Mass in the morning celebrated by Cardinal Luis Tagle, the pro-prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Evangelization who was appointed by Pope Francis to serve as the papal envoy for the event.

If you value the news and views Catholic World Report provides, please consider donating to support our efforts. Your contribution will help us continue to make CWR available to all readers worldwide for free, without a subscription. Thank you for your generosity!

Click here for more information on donating to CWR. Click here to sign up for our newsletter.

About Catholic News Agency 12637 Articles
Catholic News Agency (www.catholicnewsagency.com)

Related Articles

No Picture
News Briefs

The Papal Foundation provides $800K in scholarships for studies in Rome

September 16, 2021 Catholic News Agency 0
Cupola of St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City / CNA

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 16, 2021 / 09:34 am (CNA).

The Papal Foundation has awarded nearly $800,000 in scholarships to 96 priests, brothers, sisters, and lay faithful as part of the Saint John Paul II Scholarship Program.

The scholarships will enable the recipients to study at 16 universities in Rome. The recipients hail from five continents.

“We are committed to Saint John Paul II’s vision to prepare Catholic leaders and educators for service,” said Eustace Mita, president of The Papal Foundation Board of Trustees, in a published statement. “We aim to ensure those called to build up the Church all over the world are trained and prepared to lead in their own dioceses.”

Since the Saint John Paul II Scholarship Program launched in 2000, it has provided nearly $13 million in scholarships to over 1,600 recipients. Recipients, known as Saeman Scholars in honor of major donors John and Carol Saeman, are from disadvantaged countries. The aim of the program is to provide recipients an opportunity to study in Rome, after which they will return to their home dioceses and continue to educate others in a manner faithful to the Magisterium of the Church.

David Savage, who became executive director of the Papal Foundation July 12, 2021. The Papal Foundation
David Savage, who became executive director of the Papal Foundation July 12, 2021. The Papal Foundation

David Savage, the executive director of The Papal Foundation, said that the chance to “play a role in the formation of leaders in the Catholic Church is a blessing.”

“Saint John Paul II will always be remembered for the lessons in leadership he personified, which is one reason we at The Papal Foundation are honored to carry forward his vision of training scholars to effectively lead in their communities,” he said in a published statement.

Father Julius Madaki, a priest from the Archdiocese of Kaduna in Nigeria, is one of these leaders. Madaki defended his doctoral thesis in July, after being given a scholarship from The Papal Foundation to study in Rome.

“Words alone cannot express the sentiments of gratitude and appreciation in me,” he said in a published statement. “Studying under the auspices of The Papal Foundation has influenced my life in no small way. I promise to make you proud, be of service to the Church, and keep you always in my prayers. Rest assured that your commitment to spreading the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth will never go unrewarded.”

The Papal Foundation was founded in 1988 in response to calls “for a unique, sustainable way to support the Holy Father and his witness in the world.”

According to its website, the mission of The Papal Foundation is to “serve the Holy Father and the Roman Catholic Church” by means of “gathering in a corporal and cooperative collaboration of laity, clergy and hierarchy within the Church, in witness to one another of our faith, and drawing strength from the witness of the Holy Father.”

The mission statement continues: “We bring and contribute our faith, our energy and our financial resources, to serve those needs of the Church that are of particular significance to the Holy Father, always with a commitment to walk in union with the Holy Father and the Magisterium of the Church.”


[…]

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

All comments posted at Catholic World Report are moderated. While vigorous debate is welcome and encouraged, please note that in the interest of maintaining a civilized and helpful level of discussion, comments containing obscene language or personal attacks—or those that are deemed by the editors to be needlessly combative or inflammatory—will not be published. Thank you.


*