A major moment in the life of the English and Welsh Church will take place from September 7-9. An estimated 5,000 people will process behind the Blessed Sacrament through Liverpool’s streets, passing cocktail bars, cafes, a university and a recently closed Masonic hall. The procession will circle back to Liverpool’s Metropolitan Cathedral, where Benediction will be given from the top of the steps.
The event is the culmination of Adoremus, the National Eucharistic Congress. The last time a major congress on the Eucharist was held in England was in 1908, when permission for a Blessed Sacrament procession was refused on the grounds that it was “provocative to Protestant sentiment”. (A procession without the Blessed Sacrament went ahead anyway, drawing 40,000 people.) This time, far from protesting, Protestant leaders will be part of the procession. Walking alongside Archbishop Malcolm McMahon of Liverpool will be the city’s Anglican bishop and leaders from the Methodist, Baptist and Congregationalist churches.
