INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Tens of thousands of Catholics from across the United States descended upon downtown Indianapolis on Tuesday for the 10th National Eucharistic Congress, the first congress in 83 years.

The last of four pilgrimages arrived at Saint John the Evangelist Tuesday morning.

That procession pales in comparison to the one that will happen on Saturday, when Catholics will walk from the convention center up to the Indiana War Memorial.

“We’re expecting 55,000 Catholics from across the United States and even the world,” said event organizer Joel Stepanek.

This procession is one the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department has spent a long time preparing for.

“This is unique. We have worked several major events to include parades in the past,” IMPD Officer Chuck Deblaso said. None of those major events were the size of what this will be.

“It’s challenging with our resources, but I think we’ve been planning on this for about a year with the NEC and our state police partners. I think we have a good plan in place and I don’t foresee any specific major issues,” said Deblaso.

Part of the preparations included working with federal and state partners to identify any threats.
“At this point, we have no derogatory information that would impact this event,” said Deblaso.

IMPD’s preparation allows the Catholics attending the congress to simply enjoy it. Katie Peterson, a congress attendee, says the congress couldn’t have happened without “the work of the Holy Spirit.”

Stepanek tells News 8 that the main goal is to grow deeper in their faith.

“To pray, to worship, and to revitalize and renew our belief in the Eucharist and the blessed sacrament. I think that sometimes our love can grow a little bit cold and so this is an opportunity for the faithful to revitalize their belief and then to go out into a world where they can serve and bring the love of Christ to others,” said Stepanek.

The focus won’t just be on themselves They’ll also be serving the community.

“We’ll be packing several hundred thousand meals throughout the national eucharistic congress to feed those that are hungry and hurting,” Stepanek said.

The National Eucharistic Congress begins Wednesday and runs through Saturday.