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MIDTOWN — Jesús Muro had just finished his day working at a bank in Rockefeller Center when he stepped outside and encountered something unexpected: His Lord and Savior moving through the streets of Manhattan.
Muro hadn’t planned to participate in the Napa Institute’s fifth annual Eucharistic Procession on Oct. 13, but when he saw Catholics walking through Midtown with the Blessed Sacrament, he decided to join them.
“I’m very happy to be Catholic,” Muro said. “I joined this because it’s really important; it’s part of my faith. I’m very proud of these people to show their faith [on the street] like this.”
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Thousands of Catholics took part in the procession, which followed a Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral celebrated by Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Espaillat of New York, who was the first of many to carry the Eucharist through Manhattan before returning for Benediction. Millions of viewers also participated remotely via social media.
This year’s Mass was also offered for Pope Leo XIV, who was undergoing surgery in Rome to remove a localized nodule in his lung, which was later diagnosed as cancer.
“We’re going to be united with him in prayer,” said Father Sean Suckiel, pastor of Holy Family Church in Fresh Meadows and American Martyrs Church in Bayside, who also helped organize the event. “We’re going to be at his side in prayer, in unison today.”
For Midtown resident Rosita Perez, who was attending the procession for the third time, that prayer took on a personal form. She said she fasted that day for Pope Leo and the success of his surgery.
“We’re very, very happy to be here, especially because we have the Eucharist, walking with us,” she said. “I’m so emotional.”
For Father Suckiel, bringing the Eucharist beyond the walls of St. Patrick’s Cathedral is at the heart of the annual procession.
“We’re going to bring Jesus into the midst of the chaos of New York City,” he said. “And for that moment, when Jesus walks through the streets of Manhattan, it’s going to be peace.”
That public witness is what has kept the Napa Institute returning to Midtown for five years, according to its president, Mark Rohlena. He said organizers hope the procession reaches not only those who come specifically to participate, but also New Yorkers who stumble upon it during their commutes.
“The main thing is that Jesus will capture their attention if they’re a person who’s maybe in troubled circumstances or really searching for faith,” Rohlena said. “This is an age right now where people are looking for authentic reasons to believe.”
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Others had been planning their trip for much longer. Vanessa Acero traveled from Westhampton, Long Island, after seeing last year’s procession on TV and deciding she wanted to experience it herself.
“You just feel the beauty of the Church and the community coming together to worship Him,” Acero said. “Being in this environment, praising Jesus and making Him more known is just so special. I’m so honored.”
Matt Bush traveled even farther, coming from Washington, D.C., as he has each year. This time, he brought his young daughter.
“When I think of the future, and I think of the world that I’d like her to be raised in, I think of the truth of the Catholic faith, I think of the beauty of the Catholic faith in the Eucharist and our Lord and Savior,” he said. “That’s a world that I want her to be raised in.”
But as the procession moved through Manhattan, Bush found himself watching the people along the route, many of whom raised their phones to record what was passing before them.
“I’m watching people over here all mystified: ‘What is this? What’s going on?’ Asking questions,” Bush said. “And I think that’s the point of this — that exact encounter.”