Pope Francis has appointed Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, as his special envoy to the National Eucharistic Congress in the United States.
This will be celebrated in Indianapolis from July 17 to 21, according to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP). Tagle will celebrate the closing Mass of the 10th National Eucharistic Congress.
Calling the appointment “a gift to the Eucharistic Congress,” Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), said Tagle’s “deep passion for apostolic mission rooted in the Eucharist is sure to have an inspirational impact for everyone attending the Congress.”
Broglio also said that Tagle knows the U.S. well as he earned a doctorate in theology at the Catholic University of America in 1991.
This will be the first National Eucharistic Congress in over half a century and a pivotal event in the three-year National Eucharistic Revival, leading into the final year of the revival — the Year of Missionary Sending.
“The congress will give public witness to the Church’s core identity rooted in the Eucharist, and we pray that it will inspire a renewed sense of mission as we live out the gifts of unity and charity,” Broglio said in a USCCB statement.
“May it be the catalyst for a continued deepening of our faith in the Real Presence,” he added.
This month marks the beginning of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimages, consisting of four different routes beginning on opposite sides of the country and meeting in Indianapolis for the Congress in July.
Collectively, the four pilgrimage routes will traverse 6,500 miles, 27 states, and 65 dioceses while carrying Christ in the Eucharist.
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline Pope names Tagle as special envoy