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October 21, 2024By OSV News(OSV News) -- National Eucharistic Pilgrimage organizers are seeking eight young adults to spend six weeks traveling with the Eucharist from Indiana to California next summer as perpetual pilgrims in the United States' second national Eucharistic pilgrimage.
The route is scheduled to begin Pentecost Sunday, May 18, following a Mass of thanksgiving in Indianapolis and end in Los Angeles on the feast of Corpus Christi June 22 with a special event hosted by the National Eucharistic Congress Inc. and a citywide Eucharistic procession.
The pilgrimage route will cover several Southwestern states, with details about which states with what stops forthcoming in early 2025. The pilgrimage expects to visit the tomb in Wichita, Kansas, of Father Emil Kapaun, a U.S. Army chaplain who died as a prisoner of war in North Korea and who has been named a servant of God, and the Blessed Stanley Rother Shrine in Oklahoma City, which celebrates a diocesan priest who was martyred while ministering to the poor in Guatemala.
"We must not cease the work of revival that Christ began on the Cross, to draw every heart to his Eucharistic heart," said Jason Shanks, president of the National Eucharistic Congress Inc., in a news release dated Oct. 9 announcing new details of the pilgrimage. "We are called to respond to this greatest act of charity, the salvation of souls, and answer his invitation to participate in this saving work. This Pilgrimage is a reminder of your baptismal call to commit yourself once again to the mystical body of Christ, uniting yourself to his Eucharistic heart and drawing all souls to him."
The route is named the Drexel Route for St. Katharine Drexel, a Philadelphia heiress-turned-religious sister who founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament and established mission schools to support American Indians and African Americans.
The route's perpetual pilgrims will be accompanied by two chaplains and participate in weekly service projects in communities they visit. Perpetual pilgrim applications are due Nov. 1. More information is available at eucharisticpilgrimage.org.
The 2025 National Eucharistic Pilgrimage was inspired by last year's first-ever National Eucharistic Pilgrimage that preceded the National Eucharistic Congress in July. Over eight weeks, 30 young adults and their chaplains accompanied the Eucharist along four routes that began in California, Connecticut, Minnesota and Texas, and converged in Indianapolis. The pilgrims relied on the "biblical hospitality" of parishes and their parishioners along the way, and stopped at parishes, shrines and public sites for daily Mass, Eucharistic adoration, service events and speakers related to the Eucharist.
As they did in 2024, "day pilgrims" are welcome to join the 2025 perpetual pilgrims for Eucharistic processions along the route and participate in other pilgrimage events.
Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens of Crookston, Minnesota, who is board chairman of the National Eucharistic Congress Inc., announced the 2025 pilgrimage following the final Mass of the National Eucharistic Congress.
"We decided that we want to keep this tradition of a national Eucharistic pilgrimage going, and we're going to do one next year," Bishop Cozzens told OSV News July 21. "The goal is basically to continue the renewal that's begun through these Eucharistic pilgrimages."
With more than 4 million Catholics, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles has the largest Catholic population among U.S. dioceses.