Registration opens for National Eucharistic Pilgrimage's public events

(OSV News) -- Registration for public events during the 2026 National Eucharistic Pilgrimage opened March 18, revealing abundant opportunities for Catholics to join the nine "perpetual pilgrims" traveling the East Coast route from Florida to Maine that culminates in an Independence Day weekend celebration in Philadelphia.

The pilgrimage runs May 24-July 5. As in the two previous pilgrimages held in 2024 and 2025, the 2026 pilgrims and their chaplains will accompany the Eucharist throughout the route, even as they travel in their van. Public pilgrimage events focus on the Eucharist with Mass, adoration and processions, as well as charitable service and fellowship.

The public can register to attend pilgrimage events at eucharisticpilgrimage.org.

"In the past few years we've witnessed a powerful renewal of Eucharistic faith across the country," said Jason Shanks, National Eucharistic Congress president, in a March 18 statement. "The National Eucharistic Pilgrimage is one of the most visible expressions of that renewal, as believers bring Jesus in the Eucharist out into our streets and communities and inviting people everywhere to encounter Him."

With the theme "One Nation Under God," the 2026 National Eucharistic Pilgrimage route commemorates key Catholic landmarks and events in American Catholic history as part of the nation's 250th anniversary. The pilgrimage's route includes public events in 18 dioceses and archdioceses and two Eastern Rite eparchies in 13 states and the District of Columbia.

The pilgrimage will launch Memorial Day weekend with Mass at Our Lady of La Leche Shrine at Mission Nombre De Dios in St. Augustine, Florida, the site of the first Mass celebrated on American soil in 1565. It will also include commemorations of the Georgia Martyrs, five Franciscan missionaries who were killed for their faith in 1597, whose beatification is expected Oct. 31; the celebration of the feast of Corpus Christi in the Archdiocese of Washington and the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia; and stops in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, the nation's first Catholic diocese and home to the United States' first Catholic cathedral.

Other stops include a blessing over Washington from the Arlington Memorial Bridge, a Eucharistic procession through downtown Washington, and, in Boston, a Eucharistic procession along the Freedom Trail and an outdoor Mass on Lexington Battle Green.

Shrines and basilicas that the pilgrimage will visit also include the Basilica of St. Mary in Alexandria, the St. John Paul II National Shrine in Washington and the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

The route ends with 24 hours of Eucharistic adoration in the Cathedral Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul in Philadelphia followed by a closing Mass and Eucharistic procession through the streets of the city.

In the National Eucharistic Congress's statement, Archbishop Nelson J. Perez of Philadelphia said hosting the pilgrimage's closing events is a "joy" for him and his local Church. He noted that his diocese is the only in the country to house two saints, St. Katharine Drexel and St. John Neumann.

Philadelphia is "the place that Catholics can reference to remember our history in this great country and the future we are building here," he said. "We will humbly and proudly bring Our Lord into the streets of this historic city to commemorate what is equally our heritage and our call as Christians to live as One Nation Under God."

The route is dedicated to St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, an Italian-American religious sister who cared for the immigrants and poor in New York during the turn of the 20th century, and who was the first U.S. citizen to be canonized a saint. Pilgrimage events in Philadelphia include multiple showings of "Cabrini," the 2024 biopic of her life.

The National Eucharistic Congress nonprofit organizes the pilgrimage, which first took place in 2024 ahead of the 10th National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis as part of the National Eucharistic Revival, and which returned last summer with a route from Indianapolis to Los Angeles.

Dioceses and archdioceses with stops along the route are St. Augustine; Savannah, Georgia; Charleston, South Carolina; Charlotte, North Carolina; Richmond, Virginia; Arlington, Virginia; Washington; Baltimore; Wilmington, Delaware; Camden, New Jersey; Paterson, New Jersey; Springfield, Massachusetts; Manchester, New Hampshire; Portland, Maine; Boston; Fall River, Massachusetts; Providence, Rhode Island; and Philadelphia.

This year's pilgrimage will take place in solidarity with the U.S. bishops' call to consecrate the United States to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It also aims to broadly involve the Church in the U.S. through a campaign to offer 250,000 Holy Hours "for the renewal and blessing of America," according to its website.

Catholics can also participate spiritually through submitting prayer intentions and attending an online lecture series highlighting "the enduring Christian and Catholic ideals that define and sustain America's national identity," according to organizers. The free, weekly lectures will be available on the National Eucharistic Congress's Manna app.

"As we approach the 250th anniversary of our nation, this pilgrimage is a powerful reminder that the deepest foundation of our country is our dependence on God," said Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens of Crookston, Minnesota, who is chairman of the National Eucharistic Congress, in a statement. "By carrying the Eucharist across our nation and gathering in prayer, we are asking the Lord to renew the Church and to bless our country so that we may truly be one nation under God."

Online merchandise for the pilgrimage is also available at the National Eucharistic Revival Store, which currently lists shirts, mugs and pins with the "One Nation Under God" Cabrini route logo.

According to organizers, the site of the 2029 National Eucharistic Congress will also be soon announced.