Like the star of an arena tour, a spotlight illuminated the glittering, golden vessel carried by a Catholic bishop. Inside, it held a round communion host, which Catholics believe is the full presence of Jesus in the appearance of bread.
The bishop placed it on an altar at the center of Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on Wednesday evening. It was the culmination of more than two years of preparations and two months of four cross-country pilgrimages destined for the Midwestern city and the first National Eucharistic Congress in more than 80 years. Thousands of Catholics converged for the start of a five-day gathering focused on devotion to the Eucharist and the core Catholic doctrine that it is not merely a symbol but is the reality of Jesus among them.
The congress reflects bishops’ attempt to revive traditional devotions that have waned in recent generations, even as some have questioned how this movement was forged. There has been debate involving politics as well as disputed research over whether most Catholics actually believe the doctrine.
The stadium remained quiet for a half hour of devotional adoration, followed by prayers, multiple speakers and an extended session led by a worship band in front of a stage set and lighting that simulated the look of gothic stained-glass windows. The music ranged from the solemn hymn “Holy God, We Praise Thy Name” to contemporary, electronic-infused music that more resembled that of an evangelical megachurch than of a Mass songbook.
Bishop Andrew Cozzens, who brought in the Eucharist, read a gospel passage in which Jesus calls himself the bread of life.
“We want every Catholic to realize that you are alive in the Eucharist and to encounter your love,” said Cozzens, of the Diocese of Cookston, Minnesota, in an extended prayer.
Attendees expressed enthusiasm.
“It’s a beautiful thing to see so many families, religious (order members), priests, the whole church here represented,” said Sister Teresa Christine DesGeorges, one of several members of the Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles who traveled from California. “There was something about being in that room with so many thousands of people for the same reason that reignites the faith.”
There were nine National Eucharistic Congresses between 1895 and 1941, an era when Catholics also gathered by the tens of thousands in stadiums and parades in their home cities for…