(KAIR)--Atchison, on Tuesday, welcomed members of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage who are making their way, on foot, to the National Eucharistic Congress, to be held in Indianapolis in July.

Called the first pilgrimage to be undertaken at such a scale, Benedictine College Director of Marketing, Steve Johnson, says the college is pleased to a be a sponsor of the Congress. "This is the first time in 83-years that the Bishops have called a National Eucharistic Congress,” Johnson said. “That Congress is taking place in Indianapolis in July, and as part of that, they're doing a pilgrimage where they are carrying the Consecrate Host all across the country."

The pilgrims, who departed San Francisco in May, were scheduled to cross into Atchison, across the Amelia Earhart Bridge, Tuesday afternoon.

Following Tuesday night spent in the Catholic tradition of Adoration at Benedictine College, the pilgrims, Wednesday, were scheduled to attend Mass with Archbishop Naumann of the Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kansas, and then depart Atchison for Topeka, and the next stop on their journey.