Philippine’s Cardinal Tagle to rep Vatican at US Eucharistic Congress

While Pope Francis may not be able to make it to the 2024 National Eucharistic Congress in the US, the Vatican has announced his representative for the event. Traveling to Indianapolis from July 17 – 21 will be Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, who will also celebrate the closing Mass of the conference, to take place in Lucas Oil Stadium in Indiana.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) made the announcement on May 18, in which Archbishop Timothy Broglio, president of the USCCB, called Cardinal Tagle’s appointment “a gift to the Eucharistic Congress.”

The archbishop went on to comment that the cardinal’s “deep passion for apostolic mission rooted in the Eucharist is sure to have an inspirational impact for everyone attending the Congress.”

Archbishop Broglio also noted how appropriate a selection of 66-year-old Cardinal Tagle is, as he spent years in the US earning a doctorate of theology from The Catholic University of America (1991).

Cardinal Tagle, formerly the archbishop of Manila, has been serving in the Vatican Curia since 2019.

He is currently Pro-Prefect of the Section for the First Evangelization and New Particular Churches of the Holy See’s Dicastery for Evangelization.

The National Eucharistic Congress, the first in the States for more than 50 years, will be the culmination of the USCCB’s three-year effort to spark a National Eucharistic Revival. The bishops called this celebration of the mystery of the Eucharist in the life of the Church “a milestone moment,” and one that will flow into the final year of the Revival, the Year of Missionary Sending, to take place in 2025, the Year of Jubilee.

“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 explained. “May it be the catalyst for a continued deepening of our faith in the Real Presence.”

Learn more about the National Eucharistic Congress here.