An African National Eucharistic Congress will take place in Washington, DC in July 2023. The US bishops’ conference estimates that 20% of the nation’s dioceses have at least 10,000 African Catholic immigrants.

“Although the Church has already taken key steps to make African Catholics feel welcomed, there is still much work to do in order for us to be truly effective at instilling in African Catholics a sense of belonging after they have arrived in the US,” according to a conference publication.

The theme of the conference is “A Response to the Lord’s Prayer: ‘That They May All Be One’” (English, French programs). This is the fourth such congress; the most recent took place in 2016.