Tens of thousands of Catholics to gather in Indianapolis after countrywide pilgrimage

Thousands of Catholics are expected to gather in Indianapolis next week after a two-month countrywide pilgrimage.

The first National Eucharistic Pilgrimage since 1941 will culminate in a procession to the downtown St. John the Evangelist Church for a noon Mass on July 16, celebrated by Archbishop Charles C. Thompson.

After the pilgrimage, tens of thousands of laypeople and clergy are expected to gather in Lucas Oil Stadium for the National Eucharistic Congress from July 17-21.

The events resulted from an initiative to renew belief in the Catholic rite of communion at the 2021 U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. That conference considered if clergy could withhold communion from Catholic politicians that support abortion, such as President Joe Biden, but didn’t end in explicit guidance.

Less than a third of U.S. Catholics believe in the presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist, according to Pew Research, with most seeing it as symbolic. This accompanies a broad decline in American religious attendance since 2000.

Today, only 30 percent of adults attend a weekly religious service, according to Gallup, down 12 percent from 2000. Among all religious groups, Catholics saw the greatest decrease: only 33 percent attend a weekly Mass, also down 12 percent from 2000.

Pilgrims began journeys on four routes across the country in California, Connecticut, Minnesota and Texas. A group of thirty young adults, called “Perpetual Pilgrims,” traveled full routes, but most participants only joined for short distances or events.

This year’s pilgrimage is the 10th in U.S. Catholic history after falling out of favor for 83 years.