Young pilgrims prepare to share love of Christ in the Eucharist during 3,300-mile trek
Young men and women preparing to take part in the 2025 National Eucharistic Pilgrimage spoke at a Tuesday press conference about their preparation and excitement for the 3,300-mile pilgrimage, set to kick off in Indianapolis this Sunday. May 15, 2025
The National Eucharistic Pilgrimage passes southwest of Omaha, Nebraska, on June 21, 2024. | Credit: Kate Quiñones/CNA
By Jonah McKeown
Young men and women preparing to take part in the 2025 National Eucharistic Pilgrimage spoke at a Tuesday press conference about their preparation and excitement for the 3,300-mile pilgrimage, set to kick off in Indianapolis this Sunday.
The 36-day pilgrimage, which will likely attract thousands of participants to walk with and adore Christ in the Eucharist, is a response to the cultural and spiritual needs of today, said Leslie Reyes-Hernandez, a pilgrim and a high school algebra teacher from Phoenix.
'If anything, I think this [pilgrimage] is an invitation for something that the world is hungry for, and the Eucharist is our anchor, and the pilgrimage is a public expression of hope,' she said.
Reyes-Hernandez is one of eight young pilgrims who will seek to publicly witness to the truth that Christ is truly present in the Blessed Sacrament by accompanying the Eucharist the entire route from Indianapolis to Los Angeles, crossing through 10 states and taking part in numerous special events.
The pilgrims will be accompanied by a rotating group of priest chaplains, and any person wishing to join for small portions of the route will be able to sign up to do so for free.
Preparation for the once-in-a-lifetime walking pilgrimage experience has involved both spiritual and practical aspects, and the pilgrims said they hope the experience will have a lasting impact on their own lives and enable them to continue sharing their faith with others. The team has convened for weekly formation meetings to prepare spiritually and build team cohesion.
Rachel Levy, who works for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis serving Catholic young adults, described preparing 'spiritually, just trying to keep a consistent prayer life,' attending daily Mass, and spending time in adoration. Practically, she's been 'trying to get out and walk a little bit more than normal,' getting prepped for the upcoming extended periods of time outside and getting some 'good walking shoes.'
Asked what the Eucharist has done for her in her life, Levy recounted a moment in adoration in front of the tabernacle where, feeling 'unworthy' and 'unequipped' for ministry due to past brokenness, she experienced a profound sense that the Lord 'loved me just as much in the worst of the worst of my sin as he did in that moment that I was sitting in front of the tabernacle, and that he loves us each each moment of every day the same no matter what we're doing. His love is constant.'
Johnathan 'Johnny' Silvino Hernandez-Jose, who resides in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and helps run his family's construction company, said he anticipates challenges during the pilgrimage experience: 'walking every day, talking every day, lack of sleep.' He described a previous walking pilgrimage experience at World Youth Day 2023 in Portugal that touched him deeply.
'Emotionally, maybe we'll get a little drained,' he noted, anticipating the intensity of constant interaction during the pilgrimage and the need to manage social energy. He also mentioned overcoming personal shyness and not taking any perceived shortfalls too hard on himself. Ultimately, though, he said he sees the pilgrimage as a 'walk with Christ, the trust that we put with him and the love that we have for him.'
'The root of this is spiritual,' Hernandez-Jose continued. 'I think when anything comes our way, these challenges, I think all we could do is really trust God and just pray with each other. And honestly, for me, what I like to do is just offer it up, you know?'
Stephen Fuhrmann, a prospective Texas A&M University graduate, said he is excited to start the pilgrimage and, with his fellow pilgrims, 'just be thrown into a van and just have to live life together with Jesus, and what a beautiful thing that will be.'
Fuhrmann said he was inspired by the witness of 2024 pilgrim Charlie McCullough, who is returning as team leader for 2025. He looks forward to getting to know 'each other's stories and each other's lives and how each of us have encountered Jesus in a very special way.'
'Then, also, to take that to the people we encounter and the people who we want to show who Jesus Christ is in the Eucharist, it's just extremely exciting,' Fuhrmann said.
Arthur 'Ace' Acuña, who works in campus ministry at Princeton University, was drawn to the pilgrimage by the pivotal role the Eucharist played in his own reversion to the faith and his desire to 'see Jesus do what he does best, which is draw all things to himself.'
He said he looks forward to 'seeing people fall in love with him ... fall in love with the Eucharist and the love that he's offering them, because he's passing by. And just like in the Gospels, he encountered so many people.'
Acuña also emphasized the importance, especially during the Church's ongoing Jubilee Year of Hope, of carrying Jesus not only into cities and rural areas but also into prisons and other places that experience suffering or isolation, seeing it as a 'testament to the fact that Jesus wants to encounter everyone' and bringing healing and 'light into the dark places.'
Frances Webber, originally from Virginia but currently living in Minnesota, is a senior in college studying theology and business. She said she hopes, through the pilgrimage experience, to reach those questioning their faith and remind them that 'Jesus doesn't want to disappoint you; he's not going to disappoint you.'
How to take part
The 2025 pilgrimage begins Sunday, May 18, with an opening Mass at St. John's Parish in Indianapolis. This year's pilgrimage is a continuation of last year's unprecedented four simultaneous Eucharistic pilgrimages, which started at the edges of the country and eventually converged in Indianapolis for the National Eucharistic Congress in July 2024.
The 2025 Drexel Route, named for St. Katharine Drexel (1858–1955), will take the procession through 10 states — including the country's two most populous, California and Texas — as well as through 20 Catholic dioceses and four Eastern Catholic eparchies.
Masses at stops along the way, which include numerous shrines and cathedrals, will be offered in various languages and liturgical styles, including the Traditional Latin Mass, Gospel choir, praise and worship, Vietnamese, and Spanish, representing five different rites of the Church.
In keeping with the ongoing Jubilee Year of Hope in the worldwide Catholic Church, the focus of the Drexel Route is on 'hope and healing,' with visits planned not only to churches but also to prisons and nursing homes.
Service projects and encounters with the poor and those in need are planned, including opportunities to serve the homeless, visit hospice facilities, and participate in a service project with Catholic Charities.
Special Masses and prayers will be offered for the Wichita, Kansas, plane crash victims; at the Oklahoma City bombing memorial; at the southern border; and in areas impacted by wildfires in Los Angeles. Numerous holy men and women have ties to planned stops, such as the tomb of Venerable Fulton Sheen in Illinois and the Shrine of Blessed Stanley Rother in Oklahoma City.--CNA
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