On Pentecost Sunday, May 19, the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage officially kicked off with pilgrims from across the country beginning a 6,500-mile trek. The pilgrimage, which is separated into four routes in the North, South, East, and West, will visit 27 states and 65 dioceses before culminating at the 10th National Eucharistic Congress July 17-21 in Indianapolis.
Thousands of Catholics across the United States will walk with Jesus in the Eucharist, in what is expected to be the largest eucharistic pilgrimages in history. The pilgrimage and congress are part of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ National Eucharistic Revival, which began in 2022.
“The Pilgrimage will be a powerful, once-in-a-lifetime witness of how Jesus Christ comes close to us and invites all to encounter him in the Eucharist,” said Most Reverend Andrew Cozzens, Bishop of Crookston, Minnesota, and chairman of the Board of Directors for the NEC, in a press release.
The Juan Diego Route, which will come through the Diocese of Nashville June 25-30, began in the Diocese of Brownsville, Texas. Most Reverend Daniel E. Flores, Bishop of Brownsville, celebrated Mass in English and Spanish at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Brownsville, marking the launch of the pilgrimage.
After Mass, Bishop Flores led a eucharistic procession with the parishioners and pilgrims to three Catholic churches in Brownsville, including Sacred Heart Mission, Our Lady of Good Counsel, and San Pedro Church. About 350-500 people joined the day’s observances, according to OSV News.
Accompanying the Eucharist on the four different routes are four groups of young adults, traveling as perpetual pilgrims for the next eight weeks. These 24 young adults are making their way through small towns, large cities, and rural areas, mostly on foot, and, along with their chaplains, carry the Eucharist in a monstrance.
“We’re so excited to visit Nashville June 25 through 30 when we’re going to walk through the streets with our eucharistic Lord,” said Charlie McCullough, one of the perpetual pilgrims on the Juan Diego Route.
The route honors St. Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin, the Indigenous Catholic visionary from the 16th century who saw Our Lady of Guadalupe and had a deep devotion to the Eucharist. The tilma of Our Lady of Guadalupe, given to St. Juan Diego, changed the Americas, converting millions to Catholicism.
Along with the Juan Diego Route, the three additional Eucharistic Pilgrimage routes include the Seton Route, which began in the Archdiocese of Hartford, Connecticut; the Marian Route, which began in the Diocese of Crookston, Minnesota; and the Serra Route, which began in the Archdiocese of San Francisco.
The pilgrimage will visit 10 churches in Middle Tennessee between June 25-30, including St. Rose of Lima Church in Murfreesboro, St. Luke Church in Smyrna, St. Ignatius of Antioch Church in Antioch, Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, St. Edward Church, the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia Motherhouse, St. Patrick Church in Nashville, Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Mary of the Seven Sorrows Church, and the Cathedral of the Incarnation.
To learn more about the Eucharistic Pilgrimage in the Diocese of Nashville, visit nashvillefaithformation.com.
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