Protest prompts perpetual pilgrims' pull from procession

Demonstrators have reportedly begun calling Eucharistic pilgrims by name during protests, prompting increased security measures.

Amid ongoing protests during a national walking Eucharistic pilgrimage, organizers pulled full-time “perpetual pilgrims” Saturday from a Eucharistic procession in Abilene, Texas, as demonstrators have begun harassing and taunting pilgrims by name during public processions.

And San Angelo’s Bishop Michael Sis told The Pillar Saturday that that he’s urged Catholics to “keep your focus on Jesus” despite the protests, while encouraging law enforcement officials to ensure the safety of Eucharistic processions.

The National Eucharistic Pilgrimage’s June 7 procession in Abilene, Texas. Credit: Jack Figge/Pillar Media.

Officials with the National Eucharistic Congress and the Diocese of San Angelo, Texas told The Pillar on background Saturday that eight college-aged perpetual pilgrims of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage would not participate in public procession events during their June 7 and 8 visit to the West Texas Diocese of San Angelo.

The pilgrimage is an eight-week journey from Indianapolis to Los Angeles, part of a three-year National Eucharistic Revival called for by the U.S. bishops’ conference, and primarily organized by the National Eucharistic Congress, Inc., a stand-alone nonprofit with several bishops serving as board members.

Since the first week of the procession, protestors have demonstrated along the route, primarily organized by the Church of Wells, a Texas-based religious group which criticizes Eucharistic adoration as contrary to the Christian gospel.

Protests have escalated in recent weeks, with demonstrators shouting Scriptural admonitions, playing musical instruments, and calling both to perpetual pilgrims and to Catholics joining in Eucharistic processions held in cities visited by the pilgrimage.

The demonstrators have led to increased security, organizers have said.

Protestors have in recent days begun harassing perpetual pilgrims by name, sources said, ahead of a June 7 decision to withhold the pilgrims’ participation in a Saturday evening Eucharistic procession in Abilene and, reportedly, a procession scheduled for San Angelo on Sunday.

But as the perpetual pilgrims sat out the Saturday evening procession, protestors were not found along the route, leaving uncertain whether demonstrators will arrive in San Angelo Sunday, and whether that could impact the participation of the perpetual pilgrims.

It is also not clear whether perpetual pilgrims will participate in public events in other cities, as they continue their route to Los Angeles.

The pilgrimage through the Diocese of San Angelo has events in Abilene, Texas, a town of 129,000, and San Angelo Texas, a town of 99,000.

For his part, San Angelo’s Bishop Sis told The Pillar Saturday that the appropriate Catholic response to protests is to “keep your focus on Jesus — because it's a Eucharistic procession. Keep your focus on Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament … not to get sucked into angry battles, but to pray, sing, focus on Jesus, and love them.”

“And pray for miracles in their hearts. God works miracles. Scott Hahn used to be Protestant; God works miracles. Now maybe those miracles won’t happen today, but maybe some seeds can be planted,” the bishop added.

At the same time, Sis told The Pillar that the processions in his diocese had gotten permission to use the street, and that he had asked law enforcement officials to ensure that protestors be prevented from disrupting the Eucharistic processions.

But while pilgrimage and diocesan leaders on the ground said on background that the pilgrims had been benched over the harassment, Eucharistic Congress CEO Jason Shanks told The Pillar soon after the publication of this report that harassment from protestors “wasn’t a major factor” in the decision to withhold the perpetual pilgrims from events this weekend.

While Shanks said he was aware that pilgrims were being personally harassed by demonstrators, he said the decision to withhold them from public events over the weekend was to “giv[e] them a break and a weekend of more private prayer during the feast of Pentecost. Some are battling illness and we wanted to give them some intentional rest.”

“We remain confident in the security and plans of San Angelo diocese,” Shanks told The Pillar.

During a press conference Thursday, one perpetual pilgrim said the experience of the protests had deepened his prayer during the pilgrimage.

“I honestly feel like my prayer has never been more fervent in my life,” pilgrim Ace Acuña said.

“We have been experiencing the Way of the Cross. Going into this pilgrimage, I did not expect to hear or encounter these protesters, and hearing our Lord be reviled. Experiencing this has brought to life Scripture — when Jesus told his disciples to pray for those who persecute you.”

Editor’s note: This report was updated after publication to include remarks from National Eucharistic Congress CEO Jason Shanks.