February 16, 2025 // National

Next National Eucharistic Congress to Be Held in 2029

OSV NEWS

The 11th National Eucharistic Congress will be held in 2029, building “on the grace” received in Indianapolis at the 10th congress, said Jason Shanks, CEO of the National Eucharistic Congress Inc. and a parishioner of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church in Fort Wayne.

The 10th National Eucharistic Congress, which was held July 17-21 in Indianapolis, drew more than 60,000 attendees and included a Eucharistic procession of tens of thousands of Catholics through the city’s downtown streets. The congress was a high point of the National Eucharistic Revival, a three-year initiative by the U.S. Catholic bishops.

Scott Warden
Altar servers process into Mass at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis during the National Eucharistic Congress. It was announced that the next National Eucharist Congress will be held in 2029. A location for the congress has yet to be determined.

“The National Eucharistic Congress Inc. is thrilled to share that we have begun the initial steps in preparing” for a 2029 congress, Shanks told OSV News in an email on Friday, February 7.

“We look forward to reuniting as an American Church to celebrate our shared Eucharistic faith,” he said. “We are eager to build on the grace we received during our gathering in Indianapolis this past summer.”

Shanks continued: “We recognize that the success of the previous congress can be attributed to the countless individuals who prayed and interceded for the event. So, we invite the Church to join us in praying not only for the planning of this future congress, but that we might continue to Walk with One through this year of missionary sending. We will provide more details about the 11th National Eucharistic Congress in the future.”

Shanks told the digital Catholic news outlet the Pillar on February 7 that a decision to hold the next national gathering in 2029 was made “in consultation with the bishops” and that a formal presentation on plans for the congress will be presented to the body of the bishops during their fall plenary assembly in November.

The revival is now focusing on its Year of Mission, in which Catholics are encouraged to become “Eucharistic missionaries” who share the reality and impact of Jesus’ real presence in the Eucharist with others. This is especially realized through the revival’s “Walk with One” campaign, which asks Catholics to identify one person whom they can accompany on their faith journey and deepen their relationship with Jesus Christ.

The National Eucharistic Congress Inc. nonprofit was formed in 2022 to support the bishops’ vision for the revival. It oversaw not only the congress but also the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, two major components of the National Eucharistic Revival.

The pilgrimage involved 30 young adult “perpetual pilgrims” crossing the country in the span of eight weeks with the Eucharist via four routes, which ended in Indianapolis ahead of the congress.

Pilgrimage-related events, such as Mass, Eucharistic adoration, and public processions, drew in some cases thousands of people, with the largest perhaps being the 5-mile procession in St. Paul, Minnesota, with crowd estimates exceeding 7,000 adorers.

Hundreds of the faithful from the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend attended the congress in Indianapolis, including Dan and Sarah Nielson, who served as the point persons for the congress for their parish, St. Vincent de Paul in Fort Wayne. The Nielsons attended all five days of the congress with their four children.

The Nielsons said that while it was fortifying to “participate in a wide range of experiences” at the congress, “Overall, our greatest joy was being together and experiencing Mass and adoration each day with so many brothers and sisters in Christ,” Sarah said. “A priest friend of ours described the experience of it all as ‘heaven on earth,’ and it truly was that little glimpse into eternity. Experiencing the Eucharistic sacrifice of the Mass, the source and summit of our faith, and worshiping the Lord in adoration with 60,000-plus brothers and sisters in Christ gave a foretaste of the full taste of heaven to come.”

At the conclusion of the congress, Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens of Crookston, Minnesota, board chairman of National Eucharistic Congress Inc., announced there would be another National Eucharistic Pilgrimage in 2025 from Indianapolis to Los Angeles and possibly an earlier National Eucharistic Congress than 2033, which is when the Church will mark the 2,000th anniversary of Jesus’ passion, death, and resurrection, which Pope Francis called “another fundamental celebration for all Christians.”

While the bishops’ initiative is slated to end with the feast of Corpus Christi, which is June 19, the organization expects to build on the revival’s momentum beyond 2025 and continue to support Eucharist-centered efforts, including future national Eucharistic pilgrimages and congresses.

Today’s Catholic contributed to this report.