In a nation, indeed a world, that has become so polarized, the congress was a breath of fresh air, bringing thousands together over five days — and several pilgrimages in the weeks before leading to Indianapolis — from every corner of the U.S. and elsewhere, including Canadians, to foster a devotion to the Eucharist.
“People who I talked to acknowledged the significance of our culture becoming chaotic with violence and hate,” said Schmalz, of St. Jacob’s Ont., who was working on his sculpture in one of the Indiana Convention Center's expo halls. “This gathering is the opposite of that, and I think this did not go unnoticed among anyone there about the violence that happened just a couple of days beforehand.”
Schmalz alluded to the attempted assassination of Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania campaign rally July 13. While the Republican nominee survived, firefighter Corey Comperatore died while shielding his family, and two others were hospitalized.
The presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist was on the mind of 60,000 Catholics in Indianapolis. Believers descended upon Lucas Oil Stadium to be inspired by keynote speakers and tasked with a “great commissioning.” Prominent speakers included Bishop Robert Barron of Word on Fire ministry, Fr. Mike Schmitz, who launched the popular Bible in a Year podcast, and Mother Adela Galindo, the foundress of Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary convent in Miami, Fla.
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, the pro-prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for Evangelization, told the crowd at the closing Mass, “the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist is a gift and the fulfillment of His mission. Those who choose to stay with Jesus will be sent by Jesus. Let us go to proclaim Jesus zealously and joyfully for the life of the world.”
Dennis Girard, an Ottawa resident who co-founded the Marian Devotional Movement (MDM) alongside his wife Angelina, hailed the Eucharistic Congress as “transformative.”
“It reminds one of the experience we often see at World Youth Day,” said Girard. “We are all one in Christ, and that affirmation pierces through the darkness of the world and eclipses what we are living through in society now. That feeling was shared by most if not all. There was a real sense of the presence of the Lord in a very efficacious way.”
Girard escorted Our Lady of the Cape, the renowned Marian statue from Cap-de-la-Madeleine, Que., to this Catholic summit. The statue was displayed in an Indiana Convention Center conference room, where the Sacrament of Reconciliation was offered. Girard said it was an honour for Our Lady of the Cape to be showcased in this penitent space, considering Schmitz declared, “you can never have a revival without repentance.”
The Girards also encountered Julia Dezelski, the marriage and family life associate director for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. She is a descendant of Fr. Luc Desilets, the founder of the Confraternity of the Most Holy Rosary. The MDM community is a passionate member of this spiritual association espousing Catholics to mediate upon the Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious Mysteries every week.
Dezelski extended an invitation to the Canadian Catholic couple to bring Our Lady of the Cape to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.
Schmalz’s sculptures also resonated with National Eucharistic Congress attendees. Visitors marveled at the installation of his new 22-foot monument called This is My Body, which depicts the transubstantiation of the bread and wine through the crucified Christ on the Cross. They also could sit on a bench next to his Angels Unaware sculpture, which is an homage to Hebrews 13.
The main draw was watching Schmalz work on his homage to soon to be canonized Acutis. Commemorating the “millennial saint” at the invitation of the international Catholic executive organization Legatus represented an invigorating departure for the 55-year-old artist.
“'I’m used to doing bearded saints that are more than a century old and now here I am doing this very young man sculpting and I'm saying, ‘yeah, this is the spirit that I love here, right?’ ” said Schmalz. “As I'm working on it, I'm thinking I'm doing the curly hair and the soft skin of his face and I'm thinking this is looking a lot like David. Not Michelangelo's David, but (Gian Lorenzo) Bernini's David.”
Schmalz envisioned “cancel and secular culture” as the modern day Goliath and that Acutis’ “sling must be his tech.”
As a lasting artistic tribute to the congress, This is My Body will be displayed permanently outside of the Roman Catholic Marian University in Indianapolis.