Lack of Eucharistic Belief: Faithful Affected by Secularism’s Strong Pull

National Catholic Register, 26 October 2019

THE MYSTERY OF THE EUCHARIST: Special Section commentary — What the Pew Survey Reveals About Belief in the Real Presence.

The news from the Pew Research Center on faith in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist was more alarmist than accurate. The truth is something rather different from what Pew reported, but there is still plenty of cause for alarm.

Pew led with an apparent bombshell:

“In fact, nearly seven-in-10 Catholics (69%) say they personally believe that during Catholic Mass, the bread and wine used in Communion ‘are symbols of the body and blood of Jesus Christ.’ Just one-third of U.S. Catholics (31%) say they believe that ‘during Catholic Mass, the bread and wine actually become the Body and Blood of Jesus.’”

The Pew numbers are different for those who go to Mass weekly. Among weekly Massgoers, belief in the Real Presence is 63%. That is double the general 31% figure.

A better source of data about what Catholics believe is from the Catholic Leadership Institute (CLI), which conducts the “Disciple Maker Index.”

The CLI surveyed 131,845 Catholics about multiple themes connected with parish life. 

The Pew sample is 1,835 Catholics in a total sample population of 10,971.

The CLI survey measures the beliefs of those who go to Mass weekly. In that much larger survey, 72% of respondents strongly agreed with the statement “I personally believe the Eucharist really is the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.” Another 19% agreed. So that is more than 90% of weekly Massgoers who agree with what the Church teaches about the Eucharist.

The situation is not as bleak as Pew suggests. But there is cause for alarm.

Continue reading at the National Catholic Register :
http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/lack-of-eucharistic-belief-faithful-affected-by-secularisms-strong-pull