CV NEWS FEED // This summer, eight young adults — referred to as the Perpetual Pilgrims — are putting their careers, degrees, and hobbies on pause to accompany Jesus in the Eucharist through cities and towns en route from Indianapolis to Los Angeles.
Arthur “Ace” Acuña, a 2023 graduate of Princeton University, hails from Nevada but currently works in New Jersey for the Aquinas Institute, the campus ministry at Princeton, according to his Perpetual Pilgrim profile. He enjoys karaoke, cooking, and talking about faith and science. His encounter with Christ in the Eucharist during college changed his life, and through the Pilgrimage, he wants to share with others that opportunity to encounter Christ.
The eight Perpetual Pilgrims will embark May 18 from the Archdiocese of Indianapolis to follow the 2025 National Eucharistic Pilgrimage route, which is named this year after St. Katharine Drexel. The 2024 National Eucharistic Pilgrimage had four routes, from each cardinal direction of the United States, named after saints, including St. Juan Diego and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, which each converged in Indianapolis in July for the National Eucharistic Congress.
“Given the outpouring of stories involving our Eucharistic Lord’s healing, conversion, unity, and peace along the 2024 pilgrimage routes, we have decided to keep the momentum going in 2025!” the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage website states. Several priest chaplains will accompany the Perpetual Pilgrims.
Returning as a Perpetual Pilgrim is Texas A&M graduate Charlie McCullough, who was on the St. Juan Diego route in 2024, according to his profile. He had a life-changing encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist as a freshman in college. Ever since, his love for Christ has only continued to grow. He is the 2025 Perpetual Pilgrims’ team leader.
Stephen Fuhrmann encountered Jesus in the Eucharist while studying at Texas A&M for a degree in agricultural business. He is set to graduate in December, but in the summer leading up to this last semester he will serve as one of the Perpetual Pilgrims to share the love of God as Creator with others. His Perpetual Pilgrim profile states that he enjoys reading and hiking – but “[a]bove all, he treasures spending time with the people he loves and watching them fall in love with Jesus.”
Three of the pilgrims currently reside in Indiana. Cheyenne Johnson, Rachel Levy, and Jonathan Silvino Hernandez-Jose are all involved in ministry roles in their local communities.
Hernandez-Jose loves hiking, traveling, teaching students who are preparing for Confirmation, and serving the Hispanic community. To him, serving in the Pilgrimage is a great gift, and “[t]o have a chance to share Jesus’s message of salvation and His love is second to none,” his profile states.
Johnson, a convert to the Catholic faith, works as Director of Catholic Campus Ministry at Butler University, where she earned two bachelor’s degrees –– one in music and one in elementary education. Johnson’s profile states that she wanted to be a Perpetual Pilgrim “because she wants to share the joy of knowing the unrelenting love of Jesus Christ with whomever she can.”
Levy, a 2019 graduate of Indiana University, loves to kayak and bake. She currently works at the Archdiocese of Indianapolis’ Office of Young Adult and College Campus Ministry. Her profile states that on the Pilgrimage, she “is looking forward to bearing witness to the peace, hope, and joy that come from a deep encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist.”
Leslie Reyes-Hernandez hails from Illinois but now resides in Phoenix, Arizona, where she is involved in college ministry and teaches freshman algebra at a public high school, according to her profile. While in college, she had a profound encounter with Christ in the Eucharist during adoration. She has been a lay apostle with the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary since 2019. She looks forward to bringing the joy of the Eucharist to others along the pilgrimage.
Theology and business student Frances Webber, who hails from Virginia, is in her last year of college. According to her profile, she enjoys making kombucha and playing guitar. She is enthusiastic about the Catholic Worker Movement, which was co-founded by Dorothy Day. Her profile states that she was drawn to apply as a Perpetual Pilgrim because she is dedicated to revival in the Church through the power of the Eucharist and eager to see God’s work through the Pilgrimage.
The St. Katharine Drexel route will include stops at the tomb of Venerable Servant of God Archbishop Fulton Sheen and the Shrine of Blessed Stanley Rother, according to the website. Along the way, the Perpetual Pilgrims will also bring Jesus in the Eucharist to nursing homes, food banks, and a federal prison.
The route will conclude in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles from June 20-22, the weekend celebrating the feast of Corpus Christi.
The Perpetual Pilgrims have a long road ahead of them, but it will serve as a powerful opportunity for grace –– both for them and for the people who encounter the One the pilgrims accompany.
Ace’s profile notes that through the pilgrimage, he hopes to show that there are many who love Jesus and are willing to follow Him;
“He wants to witness to the world that — even in times when it is easy to lose hope — the Lord still has many friends, willing to accompany Him and light up the darkness with Him.”
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