The real presence of Christ in the Eucharist is a doctrine – an official teaching of the Catholic Church – and a profound mystery. With the words of consecration, the whole of Christ is truly present – Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity – under the appearances of bread and wine.
The doctrine is based upon the words of Jesus Himself when He instituted the Eucharist. Jesus took the bread and said, “This is my body” (Mt 26:26), and He took the cup filled with wine and said, “This is my blood” (Mt 26:28). When Jesus said, “This is my body,” He declared that the bread actually is His Body, and that He is really present.
We accept and believe what Jesus said as a matter of faith. There is no scientific evidence, definite proof or factual explanation. We take Jesus at His word because He is truth (Jn 14:6), He came into the world to testify to the truth (Jn 18:37), and the words that He spoke are spirit and life (Jn 6:63). St. Cyril of Alexandria wrote, “Do not doubt whether this is true, but rather receive the words of the Savior in faith, for since He is truth, He cannot lie.”
The words of Jesus are clear and unambiguous, yet the doctrine of the Real Presence is questioned and doubted by some, and challenged, ridiculed or rejected by others. Recent public opinion polls have reported an alarmingly high percentage of those who claim to be Catholic who do not believe in the Real Presence. Other Catholics have wavered and their faith has eroded because of personal uncertainty, or because they have been swayed by the secular press, the teachings of misguided theologians or the objections of non-Catholic Christians.
There are a number of faulty explanations that are contrary to the Catholic doctrine of the Real Presence: that the bread and wine remain bread and wine and that there is no change; that they become the spiritual presence of Christ, not the actual presence; that they become a symbol that represents Christ’s presence; that they are a reminder, memento, or foreshadowing of Christ; that they become more significant or important spiritually; or that they are simultaneously Christ’s body and blood but also ordinary bread and wine.
Over the centuries, some non-believers have attacked the Catholic belief in the Real Presence with claims that it is impossible, ridiculous or superstition. During outdoor Eucharist processions, some spectators hurled taunts and insults, and their behaviors were so disrespectful that the processions were taken off the streets and moved back into cathedrals and churches to uphold and protect the sanctity of the Eucharist.
In the face of questions, misunderstanding and attack, the Church has defined, defended and reinforced its teaching on the Real Presence. St. Ambrose, who lived in the fourth century, wrote, “Could not Christ’s word, which can make from nothing what did not exist, change existing things into what they were not before?”
The doctrine was enunciated by the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 and reaffirmed and rearticulated by the Council of Constance in 1415. During the upheaval of the Protestant Reformation, the Council of Trent declared in 1551, “By the consecration of the bread and wine there takes place a change of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the Body of Christ our Lord.”
In his 1965 encyclical “Mysterium Fidei,” Pope Paul VI wrote, “The presence is called ‘real’ … it is a substantial presence by which Christ, God and man, makes Himself wholly and entirely present.”
Father Michael Van Sloun is the pastor of St. Bartholomew Church of Wayzata, Minn., and he blogs at www.catholichotdish.com. This article was originally published by The Catholic Spirit, the newspaper of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
Learn more
At www.ewtn.com/catholicism/teachings/holy-eucharist-43: Learn more about Church teaching on the Eucharist and, the institution of the Eucharist in sacred Scripture, and read excerpts from Church documents on the Holy Eucharist, including Pope Paul VI’s encyclical “Mysterium Fidei” noted above
At www.therealpresence.org: Read about reported Eucharistic miracles and download resources and prayers for Eucharistic devotion
Pew survey: Majority of Catholics don’t believe in ‘Real Presence’
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A new study about the level of Catholic belief in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist showed that a majority of Catholics do not believe that the bread and wine used at Mass become the Body and Blood of Christ.
The Pew study, issued Aug. 5, showed that 69 percent of all self-identified Catholics said they believed the bread and wine used at Mass are not Jesus, but instead “symbols of the body and blood of Jesus Christ.” The other 31 percent believed in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, known as transubstantiation.
“Most Catholics who believe that the bread and wine are symbolic do not know that the Church holds that transubstantiation occurs,” said Gregory A. Smith, associate director of research at Pew Research Center in Washington. “Overall, 43 percent of Catholics believe that the bread and wine are symbolic and also that this reflects the position of the Church. Still, one in five Catholics – 22 percent – reject the idea of transubstantiation, even though they know about the Church’s teaching.”
The numbers who believe in transubstantiation are higher among Catholics who go to Mass at least once a week, but are hardly overwhelming. About five of every eight churchgoing Catholics believe in the Church’s teaching of transubstantiation.
Split among the 37 percent who don’t believe that the Communion bread and wine actually become the body and blood of Christ are 23 percent who don’t know what the Church’s teaching is, and 14 percent who know the Church’s teaching but don’t believe it, Smith said.
According to Pew’s figures, a majority in all age groups believe the bread and wine used at Mass to be symbolic, and the majority grows larger as the age group grows younger. Catholics with a high school education or less are less likely to believe in transubstantiation, Hispanic Catholics believe in it less than whites, and women believe in it less than men.
— Mark Pattison, Catholic News Service