The Eucharistic revival has an “incredible momentum,” says the bishop | Tech Reddy

By Carol Zimmermann

BALTIMORE (CNS) – Bishop Andrew H. of Crookston, Minnesota. According to Cozen, the US bishops’ three-year Eucharistic Revival, which will culminate in 2024 at the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, is in full swing.

Bishop Cozzens, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis, who is leading the renewal, reminded the bishops during their annual fall general assembly on Nov. 16 that they had voted in favor of the revival a year ago.

It has “incredible momentum,” he said, explaining how the three-year initiative began this summer with Eucharistic processions across the country on Corpus Christi.

This effort is aimed at reviving Catholics’ understanding and love for Jesus in the Eucharist. According to Bishop Cozen, this “encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist” motivates Catholics who are part of this experience to become missionary disciples, who in turn lead others to faith.

This first year of the revival will focus on the diocesan level, and the second phase in the next year will focus on the parish level and resources to help Catholics understand what the Eucharist really means.

Part of the impetus for this effort was a fall 2019 Pew study that found only 30% of Catholics understand the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist.

Bishop Cozzens noted that in a recent study by Georgetown University’s Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, some other findings showed that 50% of Catholics knew the doctrine of the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist and only 40% believed it. . The study also found that only 15% of Catholics attend Sunday Mass every week.

In a discussion with reporters prior to his presentation to the U.S. bishops, Bishop Cozzens said leaders of the initiative hope to reach those who do not regularly attend church. He said participants hope to “invite unchurched people to church,” which is part of the missional nature of the Eucharistic revival.

He also hopes for a large turnout for the 2024 National Eucharistic Congress, which will be able to accommodate 80,000 attendees. The bishops were told the initial cost of the three-day event was $28 million a year ago, but it has since been reduced by $14 million through donor support and fundraising. Registration for the event opens in the spring.

Another major part of the Congress is the pilgrimage to the event from four locations across the United States, stopping at churches and holding Eucharistic processions or prayers along the way.

Bishop Cozzens urged his fellow bishops to pray for revival, which he described as a “divine visitation” and “a work of God.”