INDIANAPOLIS — Catholic bishops meeting for their annual conference in Baltimore have decided to hold the first United States Eucharistic Congress in nearly half a century in Indianapolis.
Bishop Andrew Cozzens of the St. Paul-Minneapolis archdiocese, who is the lead organizer of the event, made the announcement along with Indianapolis Archbishop Charles Thompson on Wednesday. The mass gathering of Catholics from around the United States will happen in late July of 2024.
The last U.S. Eucharistic Congress was held in Philadelphia in 1976.
“Indianapolis we all are familiar with from the National Catholic Youth Conference, and you know how closely located everything is there at the center of the city,” Cozzens said. “Indianapolis is also within a day’s drive for 50-percent of the U.S. population, so it makes it accessible for many of our people.”
Cozzens said that the overall cost to put on the Eucharistic Congress will be $28 million, half of which he says they have already covered with fundraising. The other half will be covered by attendee fees, he says.
According to bhmcatholic.com, a Eucharistic Conference is simply a gathering of Catholics to practice their faith like they normally would at their home parishes, but to do it on a larger scale.
“Indy obviously has the infrastructure you’ll need,” said Leonard Hoop with Visit Indy. “We also have the experience when it comes to setting the stage in pulling out all the stops for such an immense and profound gathering as a eucharistic congress.”
Cozzens said another reason they chose Indianapolis is because it was easy to work out accommodations for the anticipated crowds of people that will likely descend on the Circle City. He says the city did not require them to reserve rooms in every downtown hotel, but only in the hotel that Catholic bishops will be staying in.
They also plan to work with Marian University in order to provide affordable places to stay for anyone who wants to attend.
Cozzens said he expects 80,000 to 100,000 people to come to Indianapolis for the event. He said it will be the capstone of a three-year “eucharistic revival” which will begin with a smaller eucharistic congress in Corpus Christi, Texas in 2022.
