National Eucharistic Congress begins conference

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — About 55,000 Catholics were expected to be in downtown Indianapolis this week for the National Eucharistic Conference .

The five-day event will be a culmination of a two-month pilgrimage. Devout Catholics walked or drove from different parts of the country to Indianapolis.

The pilgrims took four different routes from north, south, east and west, and formed a crossover Indianapolis.

Zoe Dongas took the east-to-west leg that began in New York. “Getting to walk through Beaver County, Pennsylvania, in 95 degree heat for 17 miles,” she said.

The National Eucharistic Conference events — prayer sessions, exhibits and seminars — will be at Lucas Oil Stadium and the Indiana Convention Center.

Joel Stepanek, the conference’s vice president for programming and events, said Wednesday, “We’ll be packing meals here, for people those meals will be distributed, over 100,000 meals at the congress just to make a local impact on those who are experiencing hunger.”

The National Eucharistic Conference chose Indianapolis because of its central location to the country although Chicago, Boston and New York have larger populations of devout Catholics.

One pilgrim, Charlie McCullough said, “I am reminded of Denver about 30 years ago. There was a World Youth Day there that St. John Paul II visited as pope, and, at that time, Denver was not really historically associated as a Catholic place.”

There will be another pilgrimage down Meridian Street on Saturday afternoon before convention-goers host a large-scale revival session that night at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Previous coverage

• Thousands journey to Indianapolis for first National Eucharistic Congress in 83 years
• National Eucharistic Congress presents ‘unique’ challenge for IMPD