Diocese of Salt Lake City participates in National Eucharist Pilgrimage

Friday, Jun. 07, 2024

SALT LAKE CITY —  The National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, which began May 17, is sparking Eucharistic processions in cities throughout the continental United States. The pilgrimage – the first of its kind in the United States has groups of pilgrims on four routes from coast to coast, all heading toward the National Eucharistic Congress, which will be held July 17-21 in Indianapolis, Ind.

The pilgrimage is part of the three-year National Eucharistic Revival, which was called by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops as “the joyful, expectant, grassroots response of the Church in the United States to the divine invitation to be united once again around the source and summit of our faith in the celebration of the Eucharist,” according to https://www.eucharisticrevival.org/. It began in 2022 with the diocesan phase. Last year was the parish phase; this year is the national phase.

“Throughout the National Eucharistic Revival, local communities have been gathering tinder in response to God’s invitation for renewal, calling on the Holy Spirit to bring the flame,” states https://www.eucharisticpilgrimage.org/.

The pilgrims traveling on the St. Junipero Serra Route of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage arrived in Utah on May 31. On that Friday morning, Father John Evans, representing Bishop Oscar A. Solis, traveled to St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Preston, Idaho, to attend a celebration at which the pilgrimage was “handed over” from the Diocese of Boise.

The first stop in Utah was Saint Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church, where the parish hosted a Eucharistic procession through Hyde Park to the church. About 150 people joined the national pilgrims on the walk. After Mass, the parish held an all-night Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.

On June 1, the pilgrims walked to Saint Mary’s Old Town Chapel in Park City via the Rail Trail. They were welcomed at the chapel by Bishop Solis.

After an hour of Adoration, the pilgrims processed the four miles to St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church. The monstrance with the Eucharist was carried by the Most Rev. Gregory W. Gordon, STL, Auxiliary Bishop of Las Vegas, and Father Christopher Gray, pastor of St. Mary’s, who is also the diocesan point person for the Eucharistic Revival. 

Several hundred people walked in the procession, which was led by some children who had received their First Communion this year; a pair of girls scattered rose petals along the path. 

Also joining the procession were members of other parishes throughout the diocese, some of whom carried banners with their parish name; an honor guard of fourth-degree Knights of Columbus, and some members of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.  

After arriving at the church, the pilgrims attended Mass, with Bishop Solis presiding.

The national pilgrimage continued in Utah with a procession on June 3 from the Cathedral of the Madeleine to Saint Catherine of Siena Newman Center in Salt Lake City. On June 4 the pilgrimage was in the Uinta Basin. On June 5, after Mass and Adoration at St. James the Greater Catholic Church in Vernal, the pilgrims headed to Colorado.

The June 14 Intermountain Catholic will have additional coverage of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage’s events in Utah.