(OSV News) — National Eucharistic Pilgrimage organizers have changed plans for the pilgrimage’s culminating events in Los Angeles June 22 due to “deep pastoral concern for the safety of the faithful and the city of Los Angeles.”
The pilgrimage’s final events still include an afternoon Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, celebrated by Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the Holy See’s apostolic nuncio to the U.S., with Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles preaching the homily.
The Eucharistic procession following the Mass has changed, however, now taking place on the downtown cathedral’s grounds instead of following a route through downtown streets. A Eucharistic festival that was scheduled after the procession will no longer take place.
“Based upon our conversations with LAPD this week, we feel confident that this new plan ensures the safety of all involved while still bringing the Eucharistic Presence of our Lord to downtown LA in this intentional way and providing an opportunity for the people of God to come together in prayer and community,” said Jason Shanks, president of the National Eucharistic Congress Inc., which organizes the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage. “We trust in the Lord’s Divine Providence and are confident that he still has many graces and blessings in store.”
Los Angeles has been the epicenter of national protests that began June 6 over immigration raids by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In Los Angeles, they were followed by President Donald Trump’s activation of the National Guard, and later Marines, in the city. Archbishop Gomez called for the archdiocese to observe a day of prayer for peace and unity June 11.
More than 3,000 people from more than 30 states had registered to attend the Mass and procession, which mark the solemnity of Corpus Christi.
Carrying on amid challenges
Public events in Los Angeles scheduled for Friday and Saturday are unchanged. They include a June 20 Mass at the Mission Basilica San Buenaventura in Ventura, one of the archdiocese’s official pilgrimage sites for the Jubilee Year of Hope, followed by another Mass at Sacred Heart in Altadena with families affected by January’s wildfires. A Eucharistic procession in Altadena is expected to follow that Mass.
On June 21, the pilgrims will attend Mass and Eucharistic adoration at the historic Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, Los Angeles’ first Catholic church.
Los Angeles is the final destination of the 2025 National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, which began May 18 in Indianapolis. Over five weeks and 3,300 miles, eight young adult “perpetual pilgrims” have traveled across 10 states and 20 dioceses with the Eucharist with near-daily stops at parishes, shrines and other Catholic institutions for Mass, Eucharistic adoration, charitable service and fellowship.
The national pilgrimage builds on the success of last year’s inaugural National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, which included 30 young adults traveling for eight weeks along four routes that met in Indianapolis for the 10th National Eucharistic Congress July 17-21, 2024.
Pilgrims on the 2025 route spent their final week in Southern California, arriving June 14 in the Diocese of San Bernardino, where they worshipped in English and Spanish with those gathered at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Palm Desert and attended a Syro-Malabar Mass in Grand Terrace.
They traveled south to spend June 16-18 in the Diocese of San Diego, where they met up with pilgrims walking the Camino de California for Mass and a Holy Hour at Mission San Diego de Alcalá, one of the first missions founded by St. Junípero Serra. They also celebrated Divine Liturgy with the Ukrainian Catholic community at St. Patrick in San Diego.
An ‘inspiring and comforting’ moment
They arrived in the Diocese of Orange June 18, where events included Masses, overnight Eucharistic adoration and driving Eucharistic caravans, where the faithful were invited to drive in procession behind the Blessed Sacrament exposed in the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage van. They were expected to arrive in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles June 20.
While in San Diego, the pilgrims attended Mass with the U.S. bishops, who were gathered for a retreat June 16-20. In an entry for the pilgrimage’s blog at OSVNews.com, pilgrim Stephen Fuhrmann wrote, “Even though it wasn’t long, my mind was blown and my heart was filled” by the time with the bishops.
“Never in my life would I have thought I would have attended a Mass with most of the bishops of the U.S.,” he said. “To witness the shepherds of the U.S. come together in one place for retreat was a site that was inspiring and comforting.”
The solemnity of Corpus Christi also marks the end of the three-year National Eucharistic Revival, the broader initiative of the U.S. bishops that has included the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage and last year’s National Eucharistic Congress. National Eucharistic Congress Inc. plans to continue efforts to spread Eucharistic devotion and mission among Catholics in the United States.
