Cardinals, actor, and 5,000 faithful bring the Eucharist to Times Square

New York City, New York, Oct 15, 2025 / 13:26 pm (CNA).

The 6th Annual Eucharistic procession organized by the Napa Institute took place in New York City on Oct. 14, a day after a Nor’easter soaked the tri-state area. Organizers praised God for holding back the rain during the event and for allowing the procession to take place peacefully in Times Square during the 5 p.m. rush hour.

Organized by the California-based institute, a crowd of an estimated 5,000 people gathered in St. Patrick’s Cathedral for a Holy Hour and Mass, followed by a procession.

During the Holy Hour, those in attendance listened to a talk by Cardinal Giorgio Marengo, of the Apostolic Prefect of Ulaanbaatar, a missionary jurisdiction that covers the entire country of Mongolia.

He told the story of a theft which took place in a “precarious hall” in Mongolia in 2003 because the church had not yet been constructed. 

“One night, someone managed to force open the front door and break into the wall-mounted tabernacle to steal a small monstrance,” the cardinal recounted.

Marengo said the parish priest sent a catechist to report the theft to the police the next day. The catechist told them that thieves had stolen “the most precious thing we have.” When the police asked for a description of the object, wondering if it was gold or precious stones, the catechist said, “No, it is thin, unleavened bread.” 

The police sent him away, thinking the man practiced a strange religion.

“But yes, that consecrated bread is the Church’s immeasurable treasure,” said Marengo. “It is the real presence of Christ, the Lord, among his people.”

Father Ambrose Criste, a Norbertine priest from St. Michael’s Abbey in Orange County, California, then spoke on the theme of profit and gain, and how in 1626, a Dutch colonist purchased the Island of Manhattan from the Lenape Indians for $24.

“Here in Manhattan, the property value — that excludes the parks, roads, and highways — was estimated back in 2014, at $1.74 trillion. When Mother Teresa of Calcutta visited here not too many decades ago, she didn’t observe how rich we are, but rather how poor we are. In fact, far poorer than the lepers and those who were dying, whom she knew so well,” he said.

Criste stated that the poverty in the West is a different kind of poverty; it is one of loneliness and of spirituality.

“There is a hunger for love as there is a hunger for God,” he said. “There is nothing on this planet, nothing in the entire country, nothing in the entire universe that can surpass the value of the Holy Eucharist. There is nothing that can give us life, nothing else that can satisfy our hunger for love,” he said.

Attendees expressed surprise when they found out that Jonathon Roumie, the actor who portrays Jesus in the TV series “The Chosen,” was there to speak. Roumie began by highlighting St. Carlo Acutis’ words that “the Eucharist is my highway to heaven.”

“As a New Yorker, I too, have a similar kind of sentiment, that the Eucharist is my express train to heaven. Probably the 3 train, for obvious reasons. Unless it is the weekend, and there are closures. Then you have to take the 2, get on a shuttle to Grand Central, get the 4 and the 5, and see how that ends up,” said Roumie, to the chuckles of New Yorkers.

“Or if you haven’t been to confession, you should probably take the bus. It’s a whole other direction,” he said, to even more laughter.

Roumie reminded the audience that “you don’t have to play Jesus on TV to be Jesus to the world around you. And that we can do this by making the Eucharist part of our daily life, like St. Carlo.”

“This became my own endeavor in the last six months, filming the penultimate season of ‘The Chosen, Season 6,’ which we completed one month ago. It centers on the crucifixion. It was by far the hardest thing I have ever done as an actor and as a Christian man. The intensity of portraying Christ’s passion, suffering, and death on the cross was one which challenged me and necessitated a level of strength that I, on my own, do not possess, but only Christ himself,” he said.

The only way that Roumie could sustain himself, he said, was by partaking in the Eucharist as often as time would allow. 

“Confession, the Eucharist and adoration became my very food and drink. Without these, I would surely have starved and perished: perished in the abyss of my own mental approximation of our Lord’s crucifixion and death. But by seeking the healing of the deep wounds of sin within myself through the sacrament of reconciliation, receiving the Eucharist almost daily, it was Christ who then took over and further fashioned my soul to reflect more of Him within me,” he said. “It is Christ whose light shines within.”

Roumie reminded the audience that Jesus made a promise 2,000 years ago not to leave us or forsake us. 

“For 2,000 years, he has kept his promise. He is with us,” he said.

Cardinal Seán O’Malley, the recently retired Cardinal of Boston, presided and the Mass and gave the homily, which continued with the theme of Jesus’ promise to stay with us always in the Eucharist. He recalled an event which happened when he had been a bishop in the West Indies. 

“I once had a friend, Father Fox from Washington, DC, who had a magical personality and was a joy to be with. One morning, I was at my desk, and a call came in saying that Father Fox had died of a heart attack,” he said.

O’Malley recalled that he had to go to the post office that same day to pick up the mail, and to his surprise, he found a letter from Father Fox.

“It seemed he had sent me a letter from the grave,” the cardinal said.

As he read the letter, he could almost hear his friend’s voice and laughter.

“It occurred to me that this letter was like the Eucharist: a sign of love and friendship and desire to communicate. But in Jesus’ case, it was planned. The letter that he sends us is himself: the Word made flesh, made Eucharist. And God has been preparing that letter for all eternity,” he said.

After Mass, the Eucharistic procession spilled out onto 5th Avenue, with the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal singing in English and Spanish. Tourists snapped pictures, while some New Yorkers stopped and stared. University students from Fordham University waved Vatican flags. Missionaries of Charity nuns mixed with families, and drones hovered above the crowds.

The procession ended with benediction by New York’s Cardinal Timothy Dolan back at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

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