Auxiliary Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens of St. Paul and Minneapolis listens to a question during a Nov. 17, 2021, session of the fall general assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Baltimore. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is the first in-person bishops' meeting since 2019.

Bishop Andrew Cozzens listens to a question during a Nov. 17 session of the fall general assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Baltimore. Behind him is Bishop Archbishop Charles Thompson of Indianapolis, the 2023 National Eucharistic Congress’ host city. BOB ROLLER | CNS

In 2019, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops elected Bishop Andrew Cozzens to succeed Bishop Robert Barron of Los Angeles as the chairman of its Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis. When he officially stepped into that three-year role in 2020, he inherited the leadership of a plan — then still in its earliest stages — for a National Eucharistic Revival, a nationwide initiative that aims to deepen Catholics’ love for Jesus in the Eucharist.

In November, the bishops voted during their fall general assembly in Baltimore to approve the event’s capstone: a National Eucharistic Congress, slated for July 17-21, 2023, in Indianapolis. Bishop Cozzens has described the event as similar to World Youth Day.

“My sense is that the Holy Spirit is leading us together to fulfill a great need for the Church,” he said in his Nov. 17 presentation to his fellow bishops ahead of their vote. He noted that the Revival was driven in part by a 2019 Pew Research study that found that only one-third of Catholics believe Catholic teaching about the Eucharist, that it is the actual body and blood of Jesus Christ. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that the Eucharist is “the source and summit” of the Christian life.

The Eucharistic Revival begins June 19, 2022, the feast of Corpus Christi — a launch day Bishop Cozzens envisions to be marked by diocesan eucharistic processions. The Revival’s work is being done by an executive team and eight working groups, supported by staff of the Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis.

In a Nov. 18 interview at the end of the general assembly, Archbishop Bernard Hebda told The Catholic Spirit that “one of the highlights of the week was that discussion (on the Eucharistic Revival) and certainly, getting to see Bishop Cozzens’ really incredible work in that area. We certainly have great pride in his work, given that he’s been the auxiliary in St. Paul and Minneapolis. We saw in that leadership in the (bishop’s) Conference the leadership that’s been so well known to us in the archdiocese.”

Archbishop Hebda said he’s dreaming of the Eucharistic Revival including an effort that’s statewide, or even province-wide, with the dioceses in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota, “imagining the vitality that could come from that,” he said.

He noted that the Diocese of Crookston contains the headwaters of the Mississippi, and how
“something that starts small can become something so mighty.”

“We in Minnesota particularly have a sense, not just because Bishop Cozzens is involved, that this could be a real moment for us to come together and build something that’s going to be mighty in our response to Christ’s call,” he said.