INDIANAPOLIS — A delegation from the Diocese of Orange recently attended the tenth National Eucharistic Congress in Indiana’s capital city, bringing with them the faith of a Catholic people renewed by their love for the Eucharist.
PICTURED AT THIS YEAR’S NATIONAL EUCHARISTIC CONGRESS ARE: FR. ANGELOS SEBASTIAN, BISHOP TIMOTHY FREYER, BISHOP KEVIN VANN AND BISHOP THANH THAI NGUYEN. PHOTOS BY IAN TRAN/DIOCESE OF ORANGE
The event on July 17 to 21, the first national congress in the United States in 83 years, brought an estimated 60,000 people from throughout the country, including more than 1,100 priests, 1,200 religious, 600 deacons, 600 seminarians, and 200 bishops and cardinals. Events and Masses were spoken and celebrated in more than a dozen languages. Exhibits included ones on the Shroud of Turin and Eucharistic miracles.
DELEGATION FROM THE DIOCESE OF ORANGE ATTENDED THE NATIONAL EUCHARISTIC CONGRESS HELD JULY 17 TO 21 IN INDIANAPOLIS. PHOTOS BY IAN TRAN/DIOCESE OF ORANGE
About 40 from Orange County were part of the official delegation, but it is estimated that numerous others from the area made their way to Indianapolis for the event, including religious. They celebrated Masses, participated in Adoration, took to the streets in a massive procession and explored various topics during discussions and panels. The delegation members are going on to serve on a special Diocese committed tasked with guiding the bishops on matters related to Eucharistic devotion. Across all parishes, they will be creating programs aimed at rekindling the importance for the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.
DEACON DAVID STROMSWOLD (LEFT), DEACON MODESTO CORDERO (LEFT) AND DEACON PETE MORALES (SECOND ROW) PARTICIPATE IN AN EVENT AT LUCAS OIL STADIUM DURING THE 2024 NATIONAL EUCHARISTIC CONGRESS IN INDIANAPOLIS.
The National Eucharistic Congress served as the culminating event of the National Eucharistic Revival, an effort sponsored by the U.S. bishops that began in 2022 to inspire and renew encounters with Jesus in the Eucharist. In the Diocese of Orange, the revival took the form of street processions, special parish events and the I AM Eucharistic Congress at Christ Cathedral in October 2023.
Several events from the National Eucharistic Congress were recorded and are available on YouTube and through the congress website, EucharisticCongress.org.
“What a gift this is that we can be united as a church through our Holy Father,” said Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the apostolic nuncio to the United States, during the July 17 congress’ opening session at Lucas Oil Stadium. “At the same time, what brings us together at this congress, the Holy Eucharist is also an immense gift for unity.”
THE FIRST NATIONAL CONGRESS IN THE UNITED STATES IN 83 YEARS BROUGHT AN ESTIMATED 60,000 PEOPLE FROM THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY TO INDIANAPOLIS THIS JULY.
Cardinal Pierre added: “What is Eucharistic revival? We know that such revival, while always accompanied by sacrament and devotion, must extend beyond devotional practices as well. When we are truly revived by the Eucharist, then our encounter with Christ’s Real Presence in the sacrament opens us to an encounter within the rest of our
life. This means seeing him everywhere we go.”
Bishop Kevin Vann called the National Eucharistic Congress “a chance to renew our faith, to deepen our love of Christ and the Eucharist, and to really make connections or remake connections with everybody that’s here. It’s just a wonderful experience. I’m glad we have a wonderful delegation here and I’m part of that.”
Rene Del Cid, a delegate from St. Vincent de Paul in Huntington Beach, admitted he was definitely feeling the Presence during one of the large Adorations. “It’s more and more about learning,” he said. “Once you get into it, and you get more and more into it, it’s feeling the real thing, the real Eucharist.”
More than a dozen sisters from Lovers of the Holy Cross, who are based in Orange County and Los Angeles, also came to the conference.
Sr. Kimberly Nguyen, who serves as vocation director, compared the congress to “a piece of Heaven of Earth, where the Eucharist just calls everybody from all four corners of our country to come and meet in Indiana. We love Jesus so much more!”
Fr. Angelos Sebastian, the Diocese’s vicar general and moderator of the curia, called one of the Masses among the most amazing things he has ever experienced in his life. He recalled being surrounded by some 1,500 priests, many bishops and tens of thousands of the Catholic faithful.
“This has been a time for personal renewal,” Fr. Angelos said, “and I can see the whole church being revived with this Eucharistic congress. This gives us so much hope. And the people are filled with so much love and such deep faith for the Eucharist. I pray that we can take this to our parishes and to our dioceses and continue this revival all across the country.”
Deacon Peter Morales echoed the sentiment. He and several other Orange County deacons were routinely part of a large congregation filling Lucas Oil Stadium — normally the home of the Indianapolis Colts — with Catholic worshippers.
“The Eucharist, it’s something that’s so fundamental in the dogma of our faith,” Deacon Peter said, “and to get to celebrate it as deacons, it’s probably one of the best experiences that I’ve ever had.”
The Diocese of Orange, Christ Cathedral and the “Jesus Thirsts: The Miracle of the Eucharist” film shared a booth in the congress’ bustling exhibit hall. The representation helped put both the cathedral and newly released documentary film, which the Diocese sponsored, on the national stage.
Standing outside the Diocese’s booth, which had a steady stream of interest throughout the week, Bishop Timothy Freyer noted that when the National Eucharistic Revival started, “it seemed like a dream that would never really take place.”
But seeing 60,000 people in Indianapolis surely put an end to such sentiment.
“This is not the end of it. This is just the beginning,” said Bishop Freyer. “This is to energize us to go back into our Diocese and even promote devotion to our Lord in a much greater, robust fashion than we’ve done already.”