Large crowds gather for Mass at the downtown Chattanooga church and take part in a procession
By Bill Brewer
The National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, referred to as “Our National Emmaus Moment,” trekked through Chattanooga June 24-25 on its way to Indianapolis for the National Eucharistic Congress this month.
The Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul was one of the stops on the U.S. pilgrimage’s St. Juan Diego (southern) Route, which extended from the Diocese of Brownsville, through Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, the Dioceses of Knoxville and Nashville in Tennessee, then through Kentucky on its way to the Eucharistic Congress.
The congress is a gathering of tens of thousands of Catholics from around the country who are prayerfully engaged in renewing awareness and veneration of the Eucharist as the source and summit of the Catholic faith. Also, the congress is the culmination of the National Eucharistic Revival, a three-year faith initiative by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to inspire, educate, and unite the faithful in a more intimate relationship with Jesus in the Eucharist.
It is the first national eucharistic congress in more than 80 years and takes place July 17-21 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. The Diocese of Knoxville is leading a large group of East Tennessee parishioners to this month’s congress.
Four pilgrimage routes traversed the United States May 17-July 16 as part of the National Eucharistic Revival and its National Eucharistic Congress. Joining the St. Juan Diego Route to Indianapolis are the Marian Route to the north, the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Route to the east, and the St. Junipero Serra Route to the west.
Thirty young “permanent” pilgrims have been joined by clergy along the four routes as they have continually kept vigil with the holy Eucharist on their journeys. The pilgrims traveled by four vans specially equipped to hold four monstrances with the Eucharist.
Eight of the permanent pilgrims were on the St. Juan Diego leg and spent time in Chattanooga in prayer, adoration, Mass, and in eucharistic procession in celebration of the Eucharist.

The Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul in Chattanooga was filled with worshipers attending the Mass that preceded a eucharistic procession on June 24. The National Eucharistic Pilgrimage’s St. Juan Diego Route stopped at the downtown church. (Jim Wogan)
East Tennessee Catholics convened with the pilgrims at the basilica on June 24 for a Holy Hour with midday prayer and reflections, a noon Mass, and a eucharistic procession from the basilica through downtown Chattanooga to the Newman Center on the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga campus.
The pilgrims, Camille Anigbogu, Shayla Elm, Issy Martin-Dye, Charlie McCullough, Noah U’ren, Joshua Velasquez, Mackenzie Warrens, and Dylan James Young, were joined by Father Michelangelo Pio, CFR, and Brother Thomas McGrinder, CFR, in celebrating the Eucharist in Chattanooga.
More than 800 people attended the noon Mass celebrated by Father David Carter, rector of the basilica, and concelebrated by Father Pio and Father Michael Woods, pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Fairfield Glade. Assisting at the Mass were Deacon Jim Bello, Deacon Brian Gabor, Deacon Hicks Armor, and Deacon Wade Eckler.
Father Woods accompanied several tour buses of parishioners from St. Francis of Assisi and St. Alphonsus in Crossville to the basilica for the Mass.
Then several hundred faithful stretching for more than two city blocks joined in the evening eucharistic procession through Chattanooga. As they arrived at the Newman Center at dusk, those in the procession knelt along Palmetto Street and on the hillside in front of the Catholic student center in a moving display of faith and adoration as Father Carter led the Benediction.
Joining Father Carter in the procession through downtown Chattanooga were Father Pio; Father Michael Hendershott, associate pastor of the basilica; Father Arthur Torres, pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in Chattanooga; and Brother Thomas as well as Deacons Bello, Armor, Gabor, and Vic Landa.
Father Carter expressed joy, gratitude, and thankfulness for the daylong National Eucharistic Pilgrimage programs that allowed East Tennessee parishioners to celebrate the Eucharist with young pilgrims from other parts of the country.
“It’s so incredible and wonderful to see the faith of people come alive and the manifestation of eucharistic faith. It was palpable. You could feel the love of God for us, and you could feel the love of the people for God. That was the most moving part of this,” Father Carter said as the procession and Benediction concluded.
“Just to see so many people come out and honor our eucharistic Lord and be edified by it was wonderful. We do a eucharistic procession around the block (of the basilica). We’ve never done it all the way down here, a whole mile to the Newman Center. We might be doing this from now on,” he continued.
The procession and gathering of faithful on the steep lawn of the Newman Center reminded Father Carter of a seminal point in the Bible.

Father David Carter starts a eucharistic procession just outside the doors of the Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul. (Dan McWilliams)
“This was very similar to Jesus teaching the multitudes and feeding the multitudes with the five loaves and two fishes. Here on a hillside in Chattanooga, He has done the same. The miracle has been repeated,” Father Carter added.
Father Hendershott observed that Chattanooga’s eucharistic moment along the St. Juan Diego Route was especially poignant because June was the month of the Sacred Heart and was dedicated to the devotion of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
“It’s a beautiful day in the month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the month of true divine love where we are able to bring that divine love, veiled in mystery, into the streets. We acknowledge Christ as the King of all hearts. … May we be faithful to giving honor and glory and adoration to our eucharistic Lord and proclaim His kingship over all of our hearts, and also that He may reign in our nation, in our public spheres, and we pray for the courage that we are bold enough to witness to that when the Lord asks,” said Father Hendershott, who was heartened by the joy and excitement of all the participants.
“It was an opportunity to witness to the truth. And so many people are seeking to know; all men by nature desire to know, as Aristotle said. What is it we desire to know? We desire to know the truth. We were able to bring the truth incarnate, hidden under the appearance of bread, down here where the university system and the downtown area are, where so many people work, and we hope that some may ask, ‘What is the truth?’” he noted. “It is Jesus Christ. It is for this reason why He came that we can know Him and love Him and serve Him in this world and be happy with Him in the next.”
Father Torres was excited to see so many people come together for such an extraordinary event at a time when national surveys indicate a growing number of Catholics don’t believe or are uninformed that Jesus is present in the Eucharist.
“I think this is amazing to see all the people gather here together to celebrate Jesus in the Eucharist. I truly think that people still believe that Jesus is alive in the Eucharist,” Father Torres said. “Also, this proves to us that we Catholics are able to join together in celebration and recognition that Jesus is still walking with us.”
Father Torres remarked that the eucharistic procession and the Benediction reminded him of the Gospel, where crowds gathered around Jesus just to listen and talk to Him and to enjoy Him.
“And today, our Catholic faith in Chattanooga and Catholic Christians have become that part of the pilgrim people who gather around Jesus. It is a blessing to be here,” he shared.
Deacon Bello served as the lead organizer of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage’s visit to the Diocese of Knoxville. He was pleased with the participation by Catholic faithful in the Chattanooga area and from around the diocese.
He also credited the priests, deacons, and fellow organizers for making the spiritual event special.
“About two years ago, Bishop [Richard F.] Stika asked me to take on this project and get the revival going in East Tennessee. I accepted of course, but at that point I was terrified, and my thought was I hope we can at least get 10 or 20 people to show up for these things,” Deacon Bello said.
“My expectation originally was very small. As we started planning this thing, I kept feeling the Holy Spirit saying to me, ‘It’s going to be bigger than that.’ And at every step it would be, ‘No, it’s going to be even bigger than that,’” he confided.
Then, as the permanent pilgrims arrived on June 24, Deacon Bello said the list of those registered to attend the day’s services hit 1,000.
“I was shocked, but I wasn’t shocked at the same time. I was absolutely full of thanksgiving. To see people file into this beautiful basilica here in Chattanooga and to come with such reverence and joy in their hearts for Jesus Christ, led by these beautiful pilgrims who have traveled across the country to be right here with us in our diocese, blew my expectations out of the water,” Deacon Bello shared.
He pointed out that the hundreds of East Tennessee pilgrims who joined the permanent pilgrims on the Diocese of Knoxville stage of the pilgrimage partially answers yes to the question: Are Catholics still engaged with the Eucharist?
“The objective of the USCCB to bring awareness of the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist is in progress. But that Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist calls us to unity. It calls others into the Catholic Church with the record number of people we see coming home to the Catholic faith in our diocese this year at Easter Vigil and throughout the year, such as with the record number of confirmations. And to see these events drawing people in who are giving up days of work, their days off to just be with Jesus, that’s unity. That’s the unity that Christ calls us to in His eucharistic self,” continued the deacon who serves at Holy Spirit Parish in Soddy-Daisy and also as diocesan director of the offices of Christian Formation and Deacon Formation.
Deacon Bello described as “perfect” the day’s events, including the Liturgy of the Hours, Mass, and eucharistic procession.
Father Pio was homilist for the basilica’s noon Mass after arriving in the Scenic City that morning. Prior to entering Chattanooga, the pilgrims had been in the Archdiocese of Atlanta.
In his homily, the Franciscan priest from New York City told the congregation that he had the “great privilege” of traveling with the permanent pilgrims on their journey to the National Eucharistic Congress.
“My community has an interesting vantage point because one of our priests is assigned to each route on this Eucharistic Pilgrimage. Although I am not going the whole route, I’ve had the opportunity to visit many dioceses and parishes, cathedrals and basilicas, and it is a common theme in all of them, and that theme is you are welcome in preparation and devotion to our Lord,” said Father Pio, who serves as a chaplain for the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage.
Father Pio, who is in the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal religious order, has been inspired at how those dioceses and parishes, cathedrals and basilicas have rolled out the red carpet for the pilgrims.
His homily centered on three key points in recognition that June 24 was the solemnity of the birth of John the Baptist, one of only three births commemorated in the liturgical calendar. Those points were preparation, prophecy, and priestly sacrifice.
In Father Pio’s remarks, parallels could be drawn between John the Baptist’s ministry preaching the Good News of Jesus Christ and the 2024 pilgrims spreading the Gospel through their nationwide travels and witness.
The priest noted how even from the womb Jesus was preparing for His life on earth, such as when an angel told Zechariah that his wife, Elizabeth, who was aged and childless, would finally give birth to a son, who would become John the Baptist.
Father Pio called John the Baptist “the penitential preacher par excellence” because he spent his life proclaiming the Word of God and the coming of the Savior, Jesus Christ.
Father Pio preached that Jesus, through John the Baptist, taught the faithful to dispose themselves of God’s grace, which is the purpose of penance.
John served as a prophet who foretold of Jesus Christ’s ministry as the Son of God. “John’s whole life was constantly pointed to Christ, and he knows that the only thing that keeps us away from Christ is our sin,” the Franciscan priest said.
He pointed out that John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness proclaiming, “prepare the way of the Lord,” encouraging people to remove obstacles that would stand in Jesus’ way, and to “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
“And finally, when Jesus manifests Himself in His humanity, John points to Him and says, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God. Behold Him who takes away the sins of the world.’ And so, in his prophetic actions as he is constantly pointing to Christ, these are what make the prophet who he is,” Father Pio said.
He continued with his last topic, priestly sacrifice, pointing out that the familial legacy of Zechariah’s priesthood led to John the Baptist’s ministry.
And he highlighted how John, with his priesthood, offered the ultimate sacrifice for his Lord by giving his life, something every Christian should think on.
“And just like John the Baptist, your soul was sent to the exact body, gender, place in time, a place in this world where you will have the most authentic impact. Look for yourself and for those who He has put into your life. It is not a coincidence that you are alive at this time, that you are in the body that you’re in, that you are in the vocation you’re in. And it’s all for the salvation of souls,” Father Pio said.
He encouraged the congregation to prepare, as John the Baptist did in the wilderness, by embracing the penitent practices that are so important to Catholics’ faith tradition. He also encouraged them to offer up all their sufferings and crosses in union with Jesus.
“We do this in a very special way. When the faithful bring up the gifts, and the father places that bread on the altar, put yourself on that paten, offer Him all of your trials and sufferings … and take those little crosses … and lay them at the feet of Jesus. In this way, we are able to follow the example of John the Baptist,” he concluded.
Just before the noon Mass, perpetual pilgrim Charlie McCullough gave a reflection on the pilgrimage at the halfway point of its journey.
Following the Mass, the Serra Club of Greater Chattanooga held a luncheon for the perpetual pilgrims and pilgrimage organizers. During the luncheon, one of the young pilgrims, Noah U’ren, who is a seminarian, spoke about his journey to the priesthood.
Issy Martin-Dye, who was one of the eight permanent pilgrims accompanying the Eucharist through Chattanooga on its way to Indianapolis, said she could think of nothing else that could eclipse the pilgrimage.
“My priest friend, Father Matthew Gossett of Steubenville, Ohio, sent me information on the pilgrimage last November, so I applied for it in November. When I saw this, I thought this looked like the ultimate adventure that I could go on this summer,” Ms. Martin-Dye said.
“In high school, I always wanted to live in a van, so this has just been a really cool fulfillment of my desires. It’s just so cool to get to witness to Jesus in such a unique way because I just love the Eucharist so much. So, getting to literally road trip with Him and follow Him across the country is like the coolest adventure,” she added.
She described the pilgrimage as something out of a scene of the television series “The Chosen” because the pilgrimage’s 10 disciples are following Jesus in the Eucharist across the country.
“You just learn so much through following Him and talking to all of these people and being in all of these different situations. You learn so much about His heart for you and for His people. We can’t not change being in His presence for so long. He is like the sun, you can’t not get burnt,” said Ms. Martin-Dye, a 21-year-old Cleveland, Ohio, native who is a rising senior at Ohio University.
Ms. Martin-Dye, who said she cherishes the friendships she has made on the journey, shared that she has been pleasantly surprised by the large numbers of faithful who have greeted the young pilgrims at the various stops.
And as for challenges along the way, Ms. Martin-Dye said one is fresh in her memory.
“I popped the tire the other week. I ran over some glass. We all take turns driving. But I got to try beef jerky, so it was a win,” she mused laughing.
Among the friends Ms. Martin-Dye has made is fellow perpetual pilgrim Shayla Elm, who spoke at the Catholic Media Conference in Atlanta on June 20.
Ms. Elm shared with members of the Catholic media from around the country about becoming a perpetual pilgrim on the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, and she spoke about each diocese she had traveled through at that point along the St. Juan Diego Route.
She concluded her talk to the media members by playing the banjo and singing a song she had written the week before about the pilgrimage and hearing God’s voice. She said that it was her first time writing a song and playing in front of an audience.
Ms. Elm looks forward to arriving in Indianapolis.
“I’m really excited to meet up with all the other routes again [at the Eucharistic Congress], to come together and swap stories at the congress, and just to get to hear how this journey was for them,” she said. “Our young adults are just really hungry for real things. I think we are really hungry for the truth and to weed out the fluff. And I just really believe that we’re seeing—I’m seeing and witnessing—really strong young-adult faith that is going to carry the Church into our next generation. We have young adults that are super alive, on fire, and that’s the way it is supposed to be.”
Traveling from southern Texas to Indiana can be grueling for the group, and it is in those grueling moments when the pilgrims lean on Jesus Christ for strength. They received a much-needed boost from the Holy Spirit through the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration and the Shrine of the Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville, Ala.
“There have been many moments of ‘I’m exhausted’ and ‘I have only six hours of sleep tonight, and I have to do it all over again tomorrow.’ In those cases, the Lord really has to provide for the days where you’re totally exhausted, and most times, those are the most powerful days,” Ms. Elm said.

The eucharistic procession through Chattanooga was part of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, which crossed the country culminating at the National Eucharistic Congress in July.
“I don’t know if all the routes had this, but our route had this retreat at the Shrine of the Blessed Sacrament, and it was so life-giving for us. You got to be quiet for a few days and just got to process and calm down. It was honestly really rejuvenating for us to continue on for this second leg of the pilgrimage. Our team was able to discuss how do we want to move forward, how do we keep growing in closeness as a team, not just ride it out but let’s really dive in with one another and bring others into that. Let’s bring others into this family that we’ve created on the road. The halfway point at the shrine was very good for us,” she shared.
Despite the physical demands of the pilgrimage, the pilgrims have been inspired by being able to spend more time with Jesus through the Eucharist.
“I’ve noticed that in my own heart the more time you spend with Jesus the more you become like Him and the more you see others the way He does. Being so close to the Eucharist, so up close and personal with the Eucharist, it changes you, and you become more like the Eucharist. You become more like Him in the way that you reflect to others. I’ve witnessed in my own self more patience, more virtue, more love for others, more openness, more willingness to receive, more docility to the Holy Spirit. It all has been so maximized because we’re spending so much time with Jesus,” Ms. Elm shared.
“I crave that time with Him now, because it’s making me into the best version of myself because I’m becoming like Him. When you’re so up close and personal, you can take on more, because you’re becoming more like Him. And I think others are really attracted to that, too. We get flocked at every procession or every parish event we go to. People are so like, it’s like they’re actually looking at the Apostles. And I’m like, I’m just a little North Dakota girl; I don’t know how I ended up here. But they just want to see Jesus. That’s really what it is. People want to see Jesus, and so they see Him in us. We just get to try and do our best to be like Him,” she added.
Father Pio echoed Ms. Elm’s sentiments. He said except for the holy Eucharist, the pilgrims were greeted by the great unknown as they prepared for the national Emmaus moment. But the pilgrims have come to find out that almost everywhere they have been the turnout has been greater than expected, with some stops having thousands of faithful welcoming them.
“I had very few expectations. We really didn’t know what was coming. But my expectations have far been exceeded by the joy of the people, the time and preparation they put into getting ready for Jesus, and welcoming the pilgrims has been edifying for me and has been a boost in my faith to see the Church come alive all throughout the United States,” the pilgrimage chaplain said.
“Every second is worth it. Part of the meditation for me has been that its very similar to how the Apostles experienced Christ, where there are thousands of people, large crowds and noise and processions. Then as we’re traveling in the van there is complete silence. It’s almost like Christ is taking us away to teach us in silence, to be with us in silence. There is a contrast between the crowds and the silence, but the continuity of the same Jesus has been a real source of meditation for me on this trip,” he noted.
And just as they’ve been inspired by being present with Jesus in the Eucharist, their inspiration is lifted even higher by meeting the faithful where they live.
“It’s a way to show up for Jesus in the streets. They get to get all suited up in their sneakers and their waters, and they get to walk with Jesus, and they get to bear witness to the world. There have been multiple times where I have seen crowd members talking to bystanders or inviting people to walk with them. It’s just been such a beautiful witness to see that people are hungering to show their faith to the world. Something like eucharistic procession is so unique, and doing it as part of a national eucharistic procession is historical, so all those elements to it have made it like really powerful, and people want to be a part of it. It’s like a movement. They want to be part of this movement,” Ms. Elm said.
“I believe for the future of our Church something like this can only bring grace to the Church, it can only bring grace to each individual who gets to be a part of it, because we’re creating core memories here. We’re creating moments where people get to encounter our Lord, they get to show up for Him, kids are getting to come walk with us, and elderly are walking as best they can. We had a lady who biked—she couldn’t walk, but she was on a tricycle—she was with us in every diocese in Texas. So, we’re giving people a way to love the Lord. I think people are going to want to do that after this pilgrimage,” she concluded.
Emily Booker contributed to this report.