INDIANAPOLIS — Last Wednesday morning, thousands waited in a line that wrapped around the expansive Indiana Convention Center for two, three, and maybe more hours to get their passes for the National Eucharistic Congress. Some pilgrims came for the entire five-day event, others who lived within driving distance traveled for one day. All came to proclaim the Eucharistic Lord; to witness to a thriving Church and a Living God.
The plaza before the ICC was a beehive of activity. Priests, religious sisters and laypeople traveled between the vast home to the conference and Lucas Oil Stadium, or St. John the Evangelist Church, where perpetual adoration was offered throughout the Congress. Vendors of all types, including purveyors of Catholic Coffee and German nuts lined the main entrance path the ICC, with seating for hungry pilgrims filling the square, with food trucks lining the street between the stadium and conference center. Between sessions, attendees, distinguishable by the bright orange lanyards carrying their entrance passes, flooded the Circle Center Mall and eateries within walking distance.
One hundred and twenty of the 50,000 pilgrims in attendance came from the Diocese of Providence. Some had never been to the Crossroads of America before, but made a 19-hour bus trip there, arriving at 4 a.m. The trip began with Tuesday morning Mass at St. Pius V in Providence and, as pilgrimages are prone to, encountered hitches along the way, extending a drive that should have taken around 14 hours an additional five.
The group was not deterred, however. Running on little sleep, Paige Gorewitz (nee Bertuch), coordinator for the diocesan pilgrimage, cheerfully sorted and distributed everyone’s passes for the first half-day of the Congress in the lobby of their hotel.
For those gathered at Lucas Oil Stadium across from the ICC that evening, it could have been the opening of the Olympic games. The blue-tinged lighting, emblazoned at the front of the arena with the NEC logo, gave way to full lighting as videos highlighting each of the four walking Eucharistic pilgrimage routes across America played on the main screens. One group at a time, the perpetual pilgrims who traveled these routes triumphantly entered the stadium to rousing applause, carrying an icon of their route’s patron saint.
The lights dimmed again as the monstrance was brought to the central altar, with Bishop Andrew Cozzens,the Bishop of the Diocese of Crookston, Minnesota, who is leading the multiyear National Eucharistic Revival, leading thousands of Catholics in prayer. Hands were lifted, songs of adoration filled the cavernous space and tears were shed as all encountered Jesus in the Eucharist.
Like several other non-natives on the trip, Rosie Stock, of San Clemente, California, and her husband, Deacon Michael Stock attended the Congress as pilgrims representing the Diocese of Providence.
“I listen to Catholic radio and the Catholic channel and Father John Devaney, [O.P., pastor of St. Pius V Parish, in Providence, and a catalyst for the diocesan pilgrimage] was on there,” Rosie Stock said.
“Father said, ‘If you’re listening to this and want to go then you should just call this number, and he gave Paige’s number. So, we did, and she helped us to join the group, and here we are,” Stock said as she walked into the cavernous Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the Indianapolis Colts, for the opening night of Eucharistic Adoration.
Thus began a whirlwind of activity over the next four days. Mornings included a rosary prayed across the country before optional liturgies and impact sessions. Groups dispersed for their various breakout sessions in the afternoon, coming together at the end of the day for the evening events in the stadium.
Some of the Providence pilgrims shared additional fellowship at the end of the nights, joining for meals at local restaurants.
On Thursday night, a group of roughly 20 young adult pilgrims gathered in the hotel’s billiard room, a small, sparsely furnished space with muted walls and a high, dark-paneled ceiling, giving the room a dim, 1920s feel. There, Fathers Philip Dufour and Ryan Simas led them in night prayer, after Father Dufour gave a brief overview of the Liturgy of the Hours.
Before the night prayer began, Father Dufour (diocesan coordinator for the Eucharistic Revival and pastor of St. Theresa and St. Christopher Parishes in Tiverton), and Father Simas (Vocations Director for the diocese and Catholic chaplain at the University of Rhode Island) prayed over pilgrim Paula Craig, who had tripped and fallen on an uneven surface on the way to one of the venues that afternoon and sustained swelling around her eye.
Large windows looked out over Meridian Street, a main thoroughfare in downtown Indianapolis, and pilgrims and locals passed by outside, some looking curiously in the windows. Night prayer, the shortest of the daily prayers, that evening ended with the pilgrims singing “Salve Regina.”
Garret Quillen, 28, and Tom Kaluza, 42, bunked together at the conference. Quillen attends Immaculate Conception Parish in Cranston and Kaluza is a member of Sacred Heart in West Warwick. The two men play on a hockey team together, so when Kaluza heard about the NEC on the radio, he got into a locker-room discussion with Quillen, who already planned to attend. They went with open hearts, to worship God, yes, but also open to Him using them to further His kingdom.
What impressed Quillen about the Congress, he said, was “The people; that’s something I haven’t seen before. I was just in the Vatican last Thursday. I’ve witnessed more faith here than I did in the Vatican.”
Bishop Richard G. Henning offered a Mass for the DOP pilgrims in an ornate room resembling a chapel at the Omni Severin Hotel, near where the pilgrims were staying. The NAPA Institute sponsored the use of the room by various pilgrim groups wishing to celebrate Mass there.
Msgr. Albert A. Kenney, diocesan Vicar General; and Fathers Dufour and Simas; and Father Scott Carpentier, pastor of St. Brendan Parish in East Providence concelebrated, assisted by Deacon Timothy Flanigan, M.D.
“Is anyone else excited to come here?” Bishop Henning asked, to rousing applause, at the beginning of his homily.
The bishop spoke about a well-attended presentation by Father Mike Schmitz during the Congress in which the Minnesota Catholic priest, speaker, author and podcaster suggested that when the faithful recognize the presence of the Eucharist, it demands from us a response, a change in how we approach life on a more organic level.
Following the Mass, Bishop Henning spoke with Rhode Island Catholic about how he has been impacted personally by his participation in the Eucharistic Congress.
“Just being among people and seeing their genuine faith, it lifts me and makes me want to be a better bishop, a better man, a better Christian. It’s that sense of unity with the Lord and with each other that has been the most powerful piece for me.”
Msgr. Kenney said it was a blessing for him to be able to attend the Congress.
“This Eucharistic Congress had been a life-changing gathering of people across our nation seeking to deepen their relationship with Jesus, the Bread of Life,” he said.
“The diocese was blessed to send a faithful group of pilgrims who were filled with real joy, strong faith, and a true sense of prayerfulness. Being part of this group has been a true blessing. Our collective prayer is that more people of all ages will seek to deepen their appreciation and understanding of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.”
A last minute addition to the pilgrimage, Glenn Dupont was invited to attend by his pastor, Father Scott Carpentier.
“I was a little hesitant at first, thinking I couldn’t afford it, but the Lord made that path very straight very quickly,” he said. He was “blessed to have the opportunity to be here.”
Paige Gorewitz said it was refreshing to see the tens of thousands Catholics walk in Saturday’s huge Eucharistic procession through the streets of Indianapolis.
“Yesterday someone said to me, ‘Oh man I’m so bummed because Sunday is the last day, and I said, ‘No, Sunday is the first day because that’s the day we’re going to get commissioned to become true missionaries of the Eucharist,’ and I know if you’re able to walk with one mentality at home, the Catholic Church can change the world,” she said.
Dionne Larson said that she was especially moved by the opening night’s Eucharistic Adoration at Lucas Oil Stadium, in which the Providence delegation sat adjacent to where the monstrance was placed on the altar in the center of the field.
“We were in tears, many of us. It was very beautiful, very powerful and very inspiring. It even helped me to learn how to pray better and how to be in better communion with the Lord Jesus Christ,” Larson said. “What’s been most powerful for me is the sense of community, the love of our Lord Jesus Christ, and us getting to learn just how much Jesus really loves us, and how we can spread that with others: heaven down to earth through us,” she added.
Jack MacManus, likely the oldest pilgrim with the group, turned 81 during the Congress.
“I love God and the Eucharist. I came out here expecting miracles, and there certainly are miracles going on here, so I’m very happy to be here. And I just love being with all these Catholics; I don’t think I’ve ever been anywhere where there’s so many Catholics,” MacManus said when asked what made him want to make the journey.
MacManus is a cradle Catholic, but fell away for a time, living what he called “an indulgent life.” Alcoholics Anonymous helped him find his way back to the faith and for 41 years has remained sober. He is a member of St. Joseph Parish in Providence, but regularly attends Mass at the Cathedral of SS. Peter and Paul, partly because of Sunday adoration.
“I’m looking at Jesus and He’s looking back at me,” he said.
Ana Vredenburg, at almost 19, was the youngest pilgrim from the diocese in attendance. A member of the Young Adults Group, led by Paige and her husband Ben, the St. Pius V parishioner said that as an introvert, her participation in the Congress has pushed her outside of her comfort zone.
“I wanted to help grow my relationship in the Lord, especially in the Eucharist,” she said, noting how the talks she attended greatly impressed her.
Vredenburg said she found joy in even the exceptionally long bus ride from Providence to Indianapolis
“We all bonded together and prayed throughout it, so it was still a beautiful experience.”
