Men’s Eucharistic Procession in downtown Cincinnati. Eric Sammons. Twitter/X
By Eric Sammons, Crisis Magazine, Oct. 2023
Eric Sammons is the editor-in-chief of Crisis Magazine.
This past weekend I attended a Men’s Eucharistic Procession in downtown Cincinnati with about 800 men (including almost 100 priests and seminarians). I first attended this annual event seven years ago, when about 200 men processed through the streets of Cincinnati. The 300% increase in attendance during that time is encouraging, to say the least.
I’m under no illusions, of course, that the Church is growing right now. In fact, over the past few years here in Cincinnati the Archdiocese has been implementing a radical reduction in the number of parishes due to falling numbers of priests and laity. And Cincinnati’s shrinking is not the anomaly; it is the norm. The Catholic Church, at least in the Western world, is in an era of steep decline.
Yet I see little signs of growth, like the local men’s procession. I don’t think his growth is primarily about numbers, however, but instead about a growth in faith and a growth in a desire to more radically follow our Lord by those remaining in the Church. Alongside the increased attendance at the procession, I also see it in the increase in faithful bishops willing to speak out for our faith. I see it in the flocking of many Catholics to more reverent Masses, particularly the traditional Latin Mass. …
