‘The monstrance is a monstrosity!’ - NEC pilgrims face protestors

Religious protestors opposing Catholic teaching have followed the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage

Young Catholics walking across the United States as part of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, faced protestors in Dallas Wednesday night, with pilgrimage organizers saying they expect to see protests continue as the group makes its way to Los Angeles.

A protestor attempts June 4 to engage participants in the National Eucharistic Congress. Courtesy photo.

The Dallas protests were the latest opposition to the walking Eucharistic pilgrimage, after similar demonstrations last week in Tulsa and Oklahoma City. The pilgrims first encountered the protesters while in the Diocese of Peoria, during the first week of the procession. Since then, the protesters have been following the procession, with their group growing in size and volume.

The protests are organized by a Texas-based religious group which criticizes Eucharistic adoration as contrary to the Christian gospel.

“They are motivated, they want to convince the Catholics that we are wrong. They want to convince us that Jesus is not really present in the Blessed Sacrament,” Jason Shanks, president of the National Eucharistic Congress told The Pillar June 5.

Shanks said the protestors have both theological and practical motives to oppose the eucharistic pilgrimage, organized by the National Eucharistic Congress organization.

“There is a motivation for them within their own base to do this, so as to gain donors and financial considerations. We have not seen them let up. All indications point to that their protests are growing and I expect that they will continue to grow. We are planning as if that is going to continue to be the case.”

Videos shared with The Pillar show protestors ranging in age from small children to older adults attempting to argue with or shout at pilgrims, who prayed during processions through Tulsa, Oklahoma City, and most recently Dallas.

At a press conference Thursday afternoon, perpetual pilgrims said the presence of protesters has had an impact both on their pilgrimage experience and their spiritual life.

“My heart hurts of course and I can only pray but my heart really, really hurts whenever I hear these deep, hurtful things from the protesters,” perpetual pilgrim Leslie Reyes-Hernandez said.

“It hurts because it’s an insight to how much hurt that person has in their heart. In these moments, I am just drawn more toward prayer.”

Perpetual pilgrim Ace Acuña said that his prayer life has been a source of comfort since encountering protestors.

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

Congress organizers say they have increased security for the walking pilgrimage, and aimed to raise awareness about the protests, which are expected to continue as the pilgrimage makes its 36-day journey to Los Angeles.

This year’s National Eucharistic Pilgrimage is a five-week follow-up to four pilgrimages which traversed the country last year preceding the National Eucharistic Congress.

This year, perpetual pilgrims are traveling 3,340 miles with the Blessed Sacrament, visiting 10 states and 20 dioceses. The pilgrimage began May 18, with a Mass of Thanksgiving in Indianapolis. It will conclude on June 22, the feast of Corpus Christi, in Los Angeles.

The 2024 walking groups faced little resistance from outside organizations.

“Having protesters is a new challenge, particularly in the strategic nature of which these protests are organized,” Shanks said. “I’m certain that we saw pockets of protesters here or pockets there, but we did not have any protesters who were following the pilgrimage.”

“There was no one that was going to the public processions before we arrived and setting up their sound equipment so that they could shout louder and say what they needed to say,” Shanks continued. “The organizational strategy of this is completely new.”

Protestors hold signs along the route of the National Eucharistic Congress. Courtesy photo.

Leaders say that the protests are being spearheaded by members of the Church of Wells, a small, controversial Christian religious group founded in 2011. The church is based in Wells, Texas, located 150 miles southeast of Dallas.

The group has been the subject of controversy since its founding, as former members have accused the church of being a “cult” and for brainwashing its members.

On its website, the group publishes blog posts on a variety of topics: atheism, psychology and Sodom and Gomorrah. Also listed are posts criticizing Catholicism and its practices including Eucharistic Adoration and “the miracle of the Eucharist.”

Last week, the group protested at events held in Oklahoma between May 30 and June 3.

Parents brought with them small children. A video viewed by The Pillar showed one mother pushing a double stroller and carrying a child on her back while following along the route.

A small girl displayed a sign that read “The Monstrance is a Monstrosity. Sun God Worship! Sin!”

Another video showed protesters walking in tandem along the sidewalk, while a pilgrimage-affiliated pickup truck drove a priest holding the Eucharist through a suburban neighborhood as part of a Eucharistic procession.

In the background, noise machines and instruments can be heard, seemingly used by protestors as an attempt to drown out the noise of the procession.

A third video showed protesters blocking the entrance to a parish parking lot in the Diocese of Dallas as the perpetual pilgrims’ van attempted to pull in.

Multiple Dallas police officers could be seen moving between the protesters and the van. Another protester attempted to cross into the parking lot, asking if he could “come in” while three Catholic men asked the protesters to be respectful.

“They are trying to antagonize us, they are trying to bait a response,” Shanks said. “They are trying to get into a debate for YouTube, X, and Instagram. That's what they want from the Catholics,” Shanks said.

Some Catholics have attempted to engage the protesters in dialogue. But with the organized nature of the protests, Shanks and his team have discouraged participants from debating with protesters.

“I have been discouraging any sort of engagement,” Shanks said. “We are encouraging the Catholics, as we process, to keep our eyes focused on Jesus and the Blessed Sacrament, and to sort of suffer in silence.”

Shanks said he has directed pilgrims to continue the task that they signed up to do — walk with Jesus.

“I have counseled the perpetual pilgrims that their role is not to corral the large crowds and whatnot — their role as pilgrims is to walk with our Lord,” Shanks said.

“And that's what they will do.”

A protestor holds a sign June 5 outside a Catholic parish, along the route of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage. Courtesy photo.

Each day this week, the number of protestors has grown, and is expected to keep growing as the pilgrims get closer to Los Angeles.

But “the security team that we have is top notch, they run security for some top organizations in the world,” Shanks said.

“The diocese and local police departments where we are visiting are well aware that this is coming so we are making sure that all the safety and security protocols from a diocesan level are in place to make these processions safe.”

“We have to understand that there's First Amendment rights involved. There are areas where they can protest, because many of these events are in public places,” Shanks said.

Still, he said: “people should feel free to come out, be a part of it because it is safe.”

At press time, the National Eucharistic Congress said that it will not be adjusting its schedule, as the protestors are not expected to turn violent.

“Someone asked me the other day, can I bring my kids? What I said was, ‘Well, the protesters are bringing theirs,’” Shanks said.

“We have not seen anything violent … It’s just a great deal annoyance and interior suffering from the words that are said.”

Editor’s note: This report has been updated to include remarks from pilgrims at a Thursday press conference.