The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops have approved the 11th National Eucharistic Congress for the summer of 2029, in a Nov. 12 vote on the last public day of the Catholic Bishops’ Fall Plenary Assembly.
The 10th National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis July 17-21 gathered a crowd of over 60,000 faithful and with a Eucharistic procession of tens of thousands of Catholics through the downtown area. The congress was part of the National Eucharistic Revival, a three-year initiative by the U.S. Catholic bishops.
The location of the event has not yet been released. The possible cities chosen among three, according to Bishop Cozzens.
The 2029 congress follows the successful 10th National Eucharistic Congress that took place July 2024 in Indianapolis, as part of the three-year National Eucharistic Revival.
Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens of Crookston, Minnesota, chairman of the National Eucharistic Congress Inc., made a presentation to the bishops. He is organizing the event, said the USCCB’s Committee on Evangelization Catechesis in conjunction with Vinea Research conducted a “Revival Impact Study” looking at the fruit of the earlier effort.
He said those findings will be released later this year.
“The results of this national survey are still being finalized,” but they found “lasting fruit from the revival,” Bishop Cozzens said. Areas of impact include increased reverence for the Eucharist, an increase in youth and family engagement, and a “noticeable increase” in Eucharistic adoration, he said.
The 2029 date considers the 2027 World Youth Day in South Korea and the 2028 International Eucharistic Congress in Sydney in 2028, Bishop Cozzens explained, noting that it would also help the church “build on the momentum” ahead of the 500th anniversary of the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe to St. Juan Diego Cuauhtloatoatzin in Mexico in 2031.
“Brothers, I believe that the Eucharistic Revival was a great gift to our country from the Holy Spirit, and I believe that continuing the transformative, unitive events every four years can continue to stoke the fires of revival and support the incredible work that you’re already doing in your dioceses in evangelization,” Bishop Cozzens said.
Bishop Cozzens said one of the gifts of the National Eucharistic Congress is the unity it brings the church — something he saw with the 2024 congress.
“I think we’ll experience that again in 2029,” he said. “I think it’s actually one of the gifts that the congress gives. It’s like the whole church gets together as one, and people get to see us united. And especially united around the source of our unity, which is Jesus and the Eucharist.
A theme is in progress, Bishop Cozzens said.
“I know that it will be a beautiful experience of the power of the Holy Spirit, and especially the power of evangelization when we honor Jesus and the Eucharist,” he said.
The U.S.-born Pope Leo XIV might be at the head of the invitation list.
The National Eucharistic Congress Inc., a nonprofit formed in 2022 to support the bishops’ vision for the congress and accompanying National Eucharistic Pilgrimage.
Edited from OSV News and USCCB Youtube
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