Pope Francis spoke about the importance of Eucharistic adoration in a June 19 meeting with the organizing committee of the US National Eucharistic Congress, which will take place in June 2024 in Indianapolis.
“It is my hope, then, that the Eucharistic Congress will inspire Catholics throughout the country to discover anew the sense of wonder and awe at the Lord’s great gift of himself and to spend time with him in the celebration of the Holy Mass and in personal prayer and adoration before the Blessed Sacrament,” the Pope said. “I believe that we have lost the sense of adoration in our day. We must rediscover the sense of adoration in silence.”
The Pope’s encouragement of the US National Eucharistic Congress, as well as his praise of Eucharistic adoration, stand in contrast to recent comments made by Bishop John Stowe of Lexington (KY). Bishop Stowe criticized the National Eucharistic Congress as “a mega-event featuring plenty of pre-conciliar piety and theology,” and he criticized Eucharistic adoration as “passive in nature.”