Considering the Catholic hierarchy’s widespread dereliction of duty, is anyone honestly surprised by the laity’s staggering apostasy?
[N]early seven-in-ten 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.”
Because it still apparently needs to be said in an age when official Catholic doctrine can be readily accessed by anyone at any time, whoever receives the Most Holy Sacrament of the Blessed Eucharist receives the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, truly present under the accidents of bread and wine.
There is an accurate, venerable, and useful word for Christians who deny the Real Presence in the Eucharist. That word is Protestants.
You would think that Catholic clergy, of all people, would take pains to prevent such an error from spreading.
Now, when I first heard of this survey, I immediately said, “I bet that heretical majority disappears if you correct for weekly Mass attendees.”
Three interesting points jump out from this chart:
- A clear majority of weekly Mass attendees hold correct Catholic Eucharistic dogma.
- More weekly Mass attendees hold the correct teaching than know it is the correct teaching. That’s the power of ritual. They’re picking up the truth via other means than verbal instruction, because we can be damn sure their pastors aren’t preaching the doctrine.
- Because they’re not hearing it preached, a disgraceful number of Catholics who attend Mass weekly are formal heretics.
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I went to Mass for the first time 2 Sundays ago and again last Sunday. The first time was at a church a few miles away which looks like a typical modern church. There was honestly not much beauty in the church, itself. I tried not to hold that against it and, generally, the proceedings went fine until the very end when one of the clergymen read a note about someone within the church who had abused a minor some years before. Don't know if that was some kind of sign or not but I decided to try another church.
Last Sunday, I went to a church that was considerably closer and was a beautiful Cathedral. Much better experience, honestly. Despite not having gone through RCIA yet, I plan to go to Mass as often as I can at this one.
Having experienced my share of UFO style churches built in the 70s, I think that note may have been a warning which you interpreted correctly.
May God bless you for showing greater devotion to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass than many confirmed Catholics.
OMg…I'm not the only one that calls them UFO churches.
I went to Mass for 15 years and never learned about transubstantiation. I never knew until I finally attended RCIA.
Your experience is sadly typical. Catholic priests simply don't preach doctrinal homilies anymore. It's a near certainty that the corrupt seminaries aren't teaching it.
"There is an accurate, venerable, and useful word for Christians who deny the Real Presence in the Eucharist. That word is Protestants."
Solid gold right there.
You make a GREAT point about the importance of rituals in the liturgy, and how rituals teach us that SOMETHING IMPORTANT IS GOING ON. It's not just empty show and pageantry, especially not little-o orthodox Christian services–everything and I mean EVERY LITTLE THING is laden with meaning. That soaks in to you.
*nods* Which is why nobody should be surprised that post-Vatican II iconoclasm has impeded Catholics' spiritual formation.
Brian
Father Z is particularly vociferous about rituals. Lex orandi populus creandi
There a ton of great English speaking resources on the net and great publishers. My gripe is for the Romance language Catholics. It's tough to find for example original French texts of St Francois de Sales.
xavier
This certainly explains why there are far more Catholics who are in line each week for communion than in line for confession. Our diocese is dying thanks to too many years of lefty liberal priests who were too concerned about feelings & finances than teaching the faith.
A great observation, and a useful metric.
Not surprised since as a gen Y’er, I grew up in V2 church and didn’t learn a thing from CCD, the preaching or the Novus Ordo ritual.
Wow, not even from CCD?
Being sarcastic or serious?
No, not even CCD and later youth group. Not a lick of dogma was input into me. The whole thing was campy and such a waste of time that functionally by 14 I was an apostate, and by the time I was 19 I was openly so. How could I not be growing up in that clown circus they called the Roman Catholic Church.
Only reason I came back, kicking and screaming, was due to direct intervention from God. Intellectually I wanted to join the Orthodox as they could rightly still claim to descend from the original Church of Pentecost. Thankfully Summorum Pontificum has just come out when I came back in.
I honestly didn't know things were already that bad back then. I was blessed to grow up in a pretty decent parish.
@Durandel
Same story here. I didn't know a damn thing, and I even spent three years in a (now closed) Catholic junior high school. Religious education was weekly reader stuff, with a side of arts and crafts. Memorize vocabulary words, move on.
Eastern Orthodoxy tugs on me hard, man. I worry that RC just tells me what I want to hear and I fear this mindset sinking in. It's so easy to be assuaged by someone who tells you not to worry, not to push yourself. How many times have I heard it in the confessional! But I know the more I accept my vices the worse my life observably becomes, so hell, how can I rest on this? When I went to my local Eastern Orthodox church and I asked the Deacon (?) "is X OK, is Y really that bad…?" the guy said to me, "I can't tell you X and Y are okay." I was just about ready to hug him. But I still… I can't make the leap to Orthodoxy. I feel like some kind of quitter, y'know?
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.
@careless – start searching Latin mass directories for something nearby, and expand nearby to mean 2 hr drive to and from. Also search for Byzantine, Melkite, Maronite, Ruthanean, and other Eastern store Catholic parishes. From my understanding of the irregular status of SSPX, you can attend there too.
And if you can’t find anything, consider moving if possible to a parish that is likely permanent and in no danger of being dismissed.
Durandel,
Ditto. I went to a Catholic school until third grade (parents couldn't afford the tuition after that) and went to Mass weekly. Also attended weekly church school until I was 17.
I didn't learn about transubstantiation until my freshman year of college. I was in a European history class. There was this girl I was pursuing and I went to her study group. She, of all people, was a Presbyterian and she educated me on the subject.
I will also add for Brian that my freshman year of college was '93/94.
There ain't no pure church. We are authoritatively informed that the tares will grow side-by-side with the wheat until Judgment Day. The problem of bad clergy goes all the way back to Judas.
Total, unflinching acceptance of the truth is the only way to conquer vice and fulfill God's plan for you. So the only question that matters when discerning whether to submit to Catholic doctrine is, "Are the Church's teachings true?"
Anything else is a distraction.
I'll keep all who are struggling in my prayers.
Don't get the informal doctrine of the group confused with your own commitment to truth and obedience.
What is the point of being Catholic and NOT embracing the distinctives of Catholicism?
I'm a protestant… and I don't get it.
That's just it. They're not Catholic, but they don't know they're not. No one bothered to tell them.
I doubt most Presbyterians know they're Calvinists, etc.
A question regarding line 1414: As sacrifice, the Eucharist is also offered in reparation for the sins of the living and the dead and to obtain spiritual or temporal benefits from God.
Is this a new crucifixion? The same as the original? The original memorialized?
Because God is eternal, and Christ is God, the Crucifixion has an eternal dimension. So, though Christ was sacrificed once for all, the Eucharist makes the Holy Sacrifice present to us again.
The Mass is like a time machine.
So it is the same, original crucifixion.
Thank you.
It is. The Church does not claim to re-crucify Christ.
You are welcome.