English Catholics were in an assertive mood at the dawn of the 20th century. The Catholic Emancipation Act was passed in 1829, lifting many of the most important legal disabilities from Catholic citizens. A significant number began to serve in the Houses of Parliament.
As part of its response to the modern world, the church had developed a very public celebration and proclamation of its faith that the bread and wine, once consecrated at Mass, truly become the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ. They called the 1908 event a Eucharistic Congress and decided that the 18th such gathering should happen in London, the seat of the world’s largest empire, and the most powerful Protestant nation on earth. The summit of any such Congress is a public procession — a religious march through the streets — with the Eucharist held aloft in a golden throne called a monstrance.
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