A National Eucharistic Congress concluded Sunday with a Mass with tens of thousands of people [1] in an NFL football stadium, where the crowd prayed for “a new Pentecost” in the U.S. Church.
The nearly 60,000 Eucharistic congress attendees were sent out with “a great commissioning” on Sunday morning in which keynote speakers urged participants to proclaim the Gospel in every corner of the country.
More than 1,600 priests, seminarians, bishops and cardinals processed into Mass in the Indianapolis Colts’ stadium in a dramatic opening procession lasting 25 minutes. An additional 1,236 religious sisters and brothers were praying in the stands, according to the event organizers.
Dominican Father Aquinas Guilbeau predicted that the legacy of the National Eucharistic Congress will be like that of the 1993 World Youth Day held in Denver for the Church in the U.S.
“Its grace will shape the Church for the next 50 years,” Father Guilbeau said.