Gulf Pine Catholic

Volume 42, Issue 9 www.gulfpinecatholic.com January 3, 2025 G ulf P ine C atholic Official Newspaper of the Diocese of Biloxi National pilgrimage, congress stand out as 2024 highlights for US church BY MARIAWIERING OSV News ( OSV News ) -- The sea of 65,000 people gathered in prayer at the foot of the Indiana War Memorial is among Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens’ most vivid memories from the summer’s National Eucharistic Congress. It was July 20, and the crowd had just pro- cessed with the Eucharistic through down- town Indianapolis. The bishop had a unique view from his place on the memorial’s steps, where an altar had been prepared for him to lead Eucharistic adoration. That moment was one of many that made Bishop Cozzens, leader of the Diocese of Crookston, Minnesota, and board chair- man of National Eucharistic Congress Inc. , feel “that great privilege of having been at the heart of something that Jesus was doing that’s so much bigger than us.” For many attendees, Saturday’s Eucharistic procession was a pinnacle event in the five-day congress, the first national Eucharistic congress held in the United States since 1941. The U.S. gathering -- and related events preceding it -- was a major undertaking in 2024. As the pinnacle of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ three-year National Eucharistic Revival , it is already proving to be a milestone in the life of the U.S. church, and in the lives of the Catholics who participated. “The spiritual power of the events exceeded my expectations,” Bishop Cozzens said. “I always know it’s good when we get together and pray and honor the Lord, but I didn’t expect the depth of conversions and the power of transformation in people’s lives. Nor did I expect the experience of unity and joy would be so palpable at all the events.” The leader of Minnesota’s Crookston diocese, Bishop Cozzens was chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis when the revival launched in 2022. Its plans included the 2024 congress -- a national gather- ing of Catholics for worship, prayer, speakers and education. Then, with the support of priests who would make it happen, congress leaders added something novel -- a National Eucharistic Pilgrimage with not one, but four, routes, starting in California, Connecticut, Minnesota, and Texas and meeting in Indianapolis for the congress. The eight-week pilgrimage across 65 dioceses involved Masses, Holy Hours and community wor- ship alongside a series of processions -- some encir- cling a block, others stretching more than 15 miles -- as the young adults who served as the full-routes’ “perpetual pilgrims” made their way, parish by parish, to Indianapolis. Covering more than 6,500 miles, it was, as con- gress organizers had promised, “the largest Eucharistic procession in history.” Bishop Cozzens admits that he had big expectations for the pilgrimage and con- gress, but both actually exceeded them, beginning with the Mass launching the pil- grimage’s northern route from near the Mississippi River headwaters in his own diocese. That Mass and accompanying mile- long Eucharistic procession has led to a local revival in his northwestern Minnesota diocese, he said. He sees it as a microcosm of the congress’s national impact. The congress’s organizers continue to collect testimonies from people who were dramatically affected by their encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist. Attendees describe a deeper belief in the Real Presence, a profound experience of God’s mercy and love, and an increased sense of faith, hope, love and gratitude. Some attribute emotional and even physical healings to the congress. “The Congress changed my life,” one man wrote of his experience. “I can’t explain it any other way.” While the congress had more than 50,000 registrants and thousands of others joining via livestreams and broadcasts, the pilgrim- age had more than 250,000 participants along its four routes. Marina Frattaroli, a perpetual pilgrim on the pil- grimage’s Eastern route who became Catholic in 2022 because of the National Eucharistic Revival , said her faith has continued to deepen after the pilgrimage. She continues to orientate her life in Manhattan and work in law around Mass and Holy Hours, she said. In the course of her regular travels, the pilgrimage and congress serve as a touchstone with other Catholics, she said. “It’s something that really encour- ages and inspires people, whether they were part of it, or whether they heard that it had happened.” “There’s a real boost and momentum and belief that God is truly at work in this moment in time, and there’s a positive direction that the church is heading from,” she said. “I think it has brought in a real hope.” SEE YEAR END 2024 EUCHARISTIC REVIVAL, PAGE 7 Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens of Crookston, Minn., chairman of the board of the National Eucharistic Congress Inc., blesses pilgrims July 17 during adoration at the opening revival night of the 10th National Eucharistic Congress at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. OSV News photo/Bob Roller