ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The excitement the U.S. bishops showed in approving a three-year National Eucharistic Revival is “actually a real work of the Holy Spirit,” said Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens.
The U.S. bishops approved plans for the revival during their fall general assembly Nov. 15-18 in Baltimore. The revival is set to begin next June and will culminate in a National Eucharistic Congress hosted by the Archdiocese of Indianapolis July 17-21, 2024.
Bishop Cozzens is leading the revival effort as chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis. Currently auxiliary bishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis, he was named by Pope Francis Oct. 18 to head the Diocese of Crookston, Minn., where he will be installed Dec. 6.
Asked how the Catholic Church can deepen the understanding of the Eucharist with the revival and congress, Bishop Cozzens referred to Jesus saying a lighted lamp does not belong under a bushel basket.
“Set it up on a hill so that people can see it and be attracted to it,” the bishop said. “And I think that’s what we want to do with our teaching on the Eucharist.”
Bishop Cozzens described the eucharistic revival and congress Nov. 17 during the bishops’ assembly and also in a Nov. 18 interview from Baltimore with The Catholic Spirit, newspaper of the St. Paul and Minneapolis archdiocese.
Conducted by Joe Ruff, news editor, and Maria Wiering, editor-in-chief, the half-hour interview was broadcast live on the archdiocese’s Facebook page.
Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis joined Bishop Cozzens for the interview.
Bishop Cozzens said he could sense the bishops’ unity and excitement over the revival “throughout the week and in the conversations ... and the gratitude and the excitement of the bishops who feel like there’s a pastoral need that we’re fulfilling.”
During the assembly, the bishops also approved a 26-page statement titled “The Mystery of the Eucharist in the Life of the Church,” which explains the centrality of the Eucharist and addresses the fundamental doctrine about the sacrament.
Archbishop Hebda said it represents the common understanding of the bishops as they restate long-held Church teaching.
The document provides a blueprint that will help throughout the eucharistic revival, and specifically for programs such as the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults and small groups in parishes, the archbishop said.
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