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, which will be celebrated in Indianapolis July 17-21, 2024. The announcement was made Saturday by the Vatican.

Cardinal Tagle will celebrate the closing Mass of the 10th National Eucharistic Congress.

Calling the appointment “a gift to the Eucharistic Congress,” Archbishop Timothy Broglio, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), said that Cardinal Tagle’s “deep passion for apostolic mission rooted in the Eucharist is sure to have an inspirational impact for everyone attending the Congress,” according to a USCCB press release. Archbishop Broglio also pointed out that Cardinal 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,” Archbishop Broglio said in the USCCB statement. “May it be the catalyst for a continued deepening of our faith in the Real Presence.” 

This weekend 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. 

More information on the Eucharistic Revival, Pilgrimage and Congress, can be found at EucharisticRevival.org.