Annual DC Eucharistic procession to be halfway point for 2026 National Eucharistic Pilgrimage

“The best part, for me, of the Eucharistic procession is to see Jesus walking with us,” Father Charles Trullols said.

The nation’s capital will serve as the halfway point for the 2026 National Eucharistic Pilgrimage to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States.

The Catholic Information Center’s (CIC) Washington, D.C., Eucharistic procession has taken place the past three years, processing through the city’s downtown area near the White House and past the U.S. Capitol.

Father Charles Trullols, CIC director, started the procession in 2023. “I thought it was a great opportunity as we were going through the National Eucharistic Revival to have a Eucharistic procession in the center of our nation’s capital, so that so many people around the country could see that we praise, and we pray, and we worship, together,” Trullols said in an interview with “EWTN News Nightly.”

Ahead of the upcoming 2026 National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, the Archdiocese of Washington reached out to Trullols to inquire if the CIC would partner with the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage in the capital for the 250th anniversary of the country.

“To partner with them at the heart of our nation’s capital … is a great honor,” Trullols said. “And we are looking forward to having many, many, many people joining us.”

“I was so excited and so happy to be able to do that, especially because the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage is going to have such a relevance … this year for so many people to see our faith and to express their belief in the real presence of the Eucharist through the journey that they are going to be doing from Florida, going up north, and finally ending in Philadelphia,” Trullols said.

The 2026 National Eucharistic Pilgrimage’s theme is “One Nation Under God,” to commemorate the anniversary. Pilgrims will journey on the St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Route to honor the first American citizen to be canonized.

The 2026 pilgrimage is set to kick off on May 24 in St. Augustine, Florida, and conclude on July 5 in Philadelphia. The Eucharistic procession will go through 18 dioceses and archdioceses.

Walking with Jesus

Since starting the annual event in D.C., Trullols said “the best part, for me, of the Eucharistic procession is to see Jesus walking with us.”

There are “so many people out there in the streets who do not know what’s going on, and they ask, and they inquire, and they also benefit from all the grace that is coming out from the monstrance, from the Blessed Sacrament, even if they don’t realize that is happening,” he said.

“But many other times people also join, without expecting it, into the procession. And this year, on June 6, when we are going to have our Eucharistic procession with the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage … I hope it will be a great sunny day for us to celebrate, to commemorate, and to walk with Our Lord in the Eucharist,” he said.

Physically walking with the Eucharist in person is “very important because it’s a personal encounter with Jesus Christ,” Trullols said. “Through the screens, we see people, we look at people, but many times we are lacking this personal encounter with Our Lord, which is to physically be with him and honor him and worship him publicly.”