Local priest shares experience among thousands at National Eucharistic Congress

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) — Thousands of Catholics filled Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis this week for a convention that’s only happened 10 times in U.S. history.

Local priest Will Wainio spoke to First News about his experience at the first National Eucharistic Congress in over 80 years.

“To walk out into that stadium and see all these people, you really — it made you think, you know, how wrong these people are that are saying the church is dead or faith is dying,” Wainio said.

Wainio was among a group of about 50 people from the Diocese of Youngstown. He was just recently ordained.

“One of the takeaways for me was we are all in this together,” he said.

The congress was a five-day-long gathering of Catholics in America aimed at bringing back some of the traditions that have faded in the church in recent years.

“This has been a part of a three-year plan from the U.S. Bishops to kind of revive the teachings that Christ is truly present in the Eucharist,” Wainio said.

The congress, which consisted of daily mass, speakers and breakout sessions, started on Wednesday. Two months before then, four pilgrimages were set off from different ends of the country to bring the Eucharist to Indianapolis.

“This was, again, meant to really bring about a change of heart to people that don’t truly believe that Jesus is fully present in the Eucharist,” Wainio said.

Wainio says the group from the Diocese of Youngstown included laity, priests and seminarians, both young and old.

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