For about 24 hours in mid-June, the Diocese of Wilmington will be in the spotlight of the Catholic Church in the United States.
The 2026 National Eucharistic Pilgrimage will stop here on June 11-12, arriving on the Eastern Shore of Maryland on June 11 and leaving for the Dicoese of Camden the next day. The pilgrimage, with the theme “One Nation Under God,” is under the patronage of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, the first American citizen to be made a saint.
The pilgrimage is the third in three years in the United States. This one will coincide with the country’s 250th birthday; the final leg of the route will end in Philadelphia on July 4-5.
Hannah Dell, the director of communications for the diocese, said one of the goals is to “help people return to a deeper understanding of the Eucharistic Lord and what our faith actually means in terms of recognizing the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. That is what all this goes back to.”
Delaware and Maryland play important roles, she said, because Delaware is the first state, and Maryland is the home of Catholicism in the United States. The pilgrimage will be an opportunity for people to celebrate a common belief.
“I think this can be a point where people are able to sort of remember what is important and that our faith is bigger than politics and whatever might be happening in the world,” Dell said.
The pilgrimage will begin over Memorial Day weekend in St. Augustine, Fla., where the first Mass was celebrated in the United States. It will continue through most of the original 13 colonies, going as far north as Maine.
According to the pilgrimage website, the perpetual pilgrim team will arrive in Kent Island, Md., late in the morning on June 11. Dell said the Eucharist will arrive by boat over the Chesapeake Bay, along with a group of perpetual pilgrims who are along for the entire route. The Diocese of Wilmington will kick off its events with Mass celebrated by Bishop Koenig at St. Christopher Church on Kent Island.
From there, the pilgrimage will head south to Easton, Md., for a service event at SS. Peter and Paul Church from 2-4 p.m. Visitors are asked to bring a canned good or shelf-stable pantry item to benefit the diocesan food pantry sustainability project. There will be opportunities for adoration and to meet the perpetual pilgrims and staff from Catholic Charities.
At 5:30 p.m., the Eucharistic procession resumes in Georgetown, Del., on the block surrounding St. Michael the Archangel Church. A bilingual Mass follows at the church. After that, an evening of fellowship will take place at St. Michael the Archangel from 7:30-9:30, with an opportunity for adoration.
Dell said the hope is that people will be able to attend that event because it is after working hours, and it is at a parish that normally does not host diocesan-wide events.
“I’m really looking forward to that,” she said.
Late-night adoration is next, from 10:30 p.m. June 11 to 5:30 a.m. June 12 at St. Mary Star of the Sea on the boardwalk in Ocean City, Md. That precedes a sunrise eucharistic procession on the boardwalk to Holy Savior Church on 17th Street. Benediction will take place from 7:15-7:45 a.m., after which the pilgrims will make their way to New Castle County.
The final event in the Diocese of Wilmington is Mass at St. Peter Cathedral in Wilmington at 10:30 a.m. Bishop Koenig also will consecrate the Diocese of Wilmington to the Sacred Heart in union with the consecration of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. The bishop will accompany the perpetual pilgrim team for the departure from the diocese at noon, leaving by boat from Wilmington to the Diocese of Camden, N.J. A limited number of spots for public viewing are available.
The handoff to the Diocese of Camden will take place at Fort Mott State Park in Pennsville. Dell said there was discussion of having it in the middle of the Delaware River, “but the river is all Delaware.”
All events are open to the public. Registration is encouraged. That is available at https://web.cvent.com/event/c3a3e9ad-3014-49b2-947a-f856a5fac8cf/register. Dell said the diocese hopes people also will happen upon some of the activities during their normal daily routines and will join in.
“The past few years have shown that people have come out, and it’s been really impactful” for people already connected to the church and others who are not as active, Dell said.
The pilgrimage will conclude in Philadelphia with adoration, a closing Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of Ss. Peter and Paul and a Eucharistic procession to the National Shrine of St. John Neumann.
More information is available at cdow.org/media-center/national-eucharistic-pilgrimage-june-11-12-2026.
