Why American Catholics are planning pilgrimages in communities across the country – Winnipeg Free Press

A long-planned series of Catholic pilgrimages began this weekend in the United States, with pilgrims making four stops before gathering two months later in Indianapolis for a large gathering of Eucharistic rites and devotions.

The National Eucharistic Pilgrimage begins with Masses and other events in California, Connecticut, Minnesota, and Texas. A small group of pilgrims plans to walk the entire route, but most participants are expected to participate in smaller segments. Each route runs along country roads and through town centers, with several stops at parishes, temples and other locations.

Although it comes amid recent debate among bishops about denying communion to anti-abortion American politicians, the pilgrimage is a revival of a historic Catholic tradition that died out in the mid-20th century.

Each procession is led by a priest holding a monstrance – usually a sundial dish representing the host or a plate of bread consecrated by the priest at Mass.

The Catholic Church teaches that “the whole of Christ—body, blood, soul, and divinity—is actually under the bread and wine,” according to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. As a result, the owner of the sacred house becomes an object of worship.

“The Eucharist is really Jesus, so for us, walking with Jesus is a testimony of our faith in the act of praying for unity, for peace,” said Tim Glemkowski, CEO of the National Eucharistic Congress, an umbrella organization for the events.

Four long pilgrimages seem unprecedented, Glemkowski said.

“It is difficult to do something for the first time in a church with a history of 2,000 years, but a procession with such a large number of people can be done for the first time in the history of the Catholic Church,” he said. Glemkovsky said.

Some of the Pilgrims set off from the headwaters of the Mississippi River in Minnesota on Sunday. Others planned to descend from the cathedral in Brownsville, Texas, or cross the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

In New Haven, Connecticut, commemorations began Saturday night with a Mass and a small procession around St. Mary's Church, the burial site of the Rev. Michael McGivney, the 19th-century founder of the Knights of Columbus fraternal organization. After a night of prayer and worship, the pilgrims escorted the host to another New Haven church and later to a boat to take him to Bridgeport and the next leg of the pilgrimage.

The pilgrimage represents an effort to revive a form of mass worship that was common in past generations of Catholicism in the United States and beyond.

The pilgrimages and the culminating National Eucharistic Congress, expected to draw tens of thousands of people to Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis in July, are funded by private donors, sponsors and ticket sales, Glemkowski said. The budget for the National Eucharistic Revival — which is actually a three-year process that includes parish activities, pilgrimages and congresses — is about $23 million, of which $14 million is earmarked for congresses, he said.

Nine meetings have previously been held in the United States under the name National Eucharistic Congress, but none since 1941.

“We've lost that tradition,” Glemkowski said. “We're bringing it back to fit the times.”

Glemkovsky said that the Hajj is not a march and that he will stay away from politics. “The message of unity and peace and focusing on Christ alone is paramount,” he said.

The idea of ​​this pilgrimage came from the discussions of the US bishops.

Their 2021 document, The Mystery of the Eucharist in the Life of the Church, comes amid a debate over whether bishops should withdraw from the communion of Catholic politicians who support abortion rights. The document ultimately did not address the issue directly, but it called for Catholics to examine whether they are conforming to church teachings and said bishops have a “special responsibility” to respond to “social actions that are contrary to the visible unity of the Church and the moral law.” .”

In addition, the document reflected bishops' concern that many Catholics do not know or accept the Church's teaching on the importance of the sacrament, although polls have given mixed results on the question.

Timothy Kelly, a professor of history at St. Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, said it was an open question how many participants would participate in the pilgrimage. His 2009 book, The Transformation of American Catholicism, documents the rise and fall of stadium-sized religious events like the Eucharistic Adoration in Pittsburgh during the 20th century.

Many Catholics in the early 20th century were from immigrant communities, and they often gathered during times of flood, war, or other crises. “Often in older demonstrations, the message seemed to be directed at the wider community – Catholics testifying to their presence and faith, while also saying, 'We're here and we matter.'”

But participation began to decline sharply in the 1950s. “What happened was, the average person wasn't interested in it,” Kelly said.

The Eucharistic Pilgrimage, he said, seems to be attracting a lot of interest in the Catholic media, which is sympathetic to other efforts to revive old traditions such as the Latin Mass.

“What I'm interested in is, how well does this resonate in the Catholic community?” he said.

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