Catholic Bishops Must Teach the Truth About Communion

Every Sunday I think: Have I committed a serious sin?

It may sound like a ridiculously austere tradition, but for me it is not about sins, but about what I do every Sunday: attending Mass and receiving the Eucharist.

Amid the decision of the American Catholic bishops last week to write a document on the Eucharist, or Communion, news outlets have focused on whether one day pro-abortion politicians like President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will no longer be allowed receive communion.

But as a Catholic, I have been stunned by the media coverage and the experts, who lack awareness of what the Catholic Church teaches, what the Eucharist is and, yes, what it means to be a practicing Catholic.

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In a way, I’m not surprised. Polls regularly show a gap between the values ​​of many American Catholics and the teachings of the Catholic Church. For example, more than two-thirds of American Catholics support legalized same-sex marriage, according to a 2020 Gallup survey. Fifty-six percent of American Catholics agree with Biden and Pelosi, arguing that abortion is legal in most or all cases, according to a 2019 Pew Research Center survey.

And when it comes to the Eucharist, many Catholics don’t even know what the Church teaches, which is that the Eucharist is really the Body and Blood of Jesus. Only half of Catholics know what the Church teaches, according to a 2019 Pew Research Center poll, which also found that 69% of American Catholics do not believe the Eucharist is the true presence of Jesus.

What does the Catholic Church teach?

For American Catholic priests and bishops in particular, all of these numbers should be sobering. Where are the mentions during the Sunday Mass homily of what the Church teaches? Where are the explanations for how the teachings of the Church are ultimately designed to promote happiness? Why are so few American Catholics educated in their own religious tradition?

Of course, this does not depend only on the clergy – parents, lay catechism teachers, godparents and a host of others have a crucial role to play in the formation of the faith – but the parish church and so on. what his priests say can be particularly important.

Of course, the example set by the clergy is also extremely important. Like many Catholics, I was encouraged by the sturdy steps the American Catholic Church has since taken the sexual abuse crisis to prevent it, but I am still horrified by the scale of the crisis.

The more recent fall of former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, whom I had encountered while living in the Washington, DC area, was particularly upsetting. Reading the cover I somehow tried to understand that the same man credibly accused of sexual abuse could also have been the presiding priest at the altar, could have held the Eucharist. in his hands and transform the bread and the wine into Body and Blood. of Christ.

Of course, there was no understanding.

But every Sunday, except for the months of the COVID-19 pandemic, I’m still in a Catholic church. I am not there for Pope Francis or the bishops or pastors or a sense of tradition or a desire to have a weekly community. I am here because I believe that when the priest say these words, “This is my body.… This is the chalice of my Blood,” Jesus Christ is truly present, as present as he was 2000 years ago. And I review my actions and reflect on my actions. sins, not because I think Jesus is trying to “catch me”, but because I no longer want to receive the Eucharist in a state of combat with Jesus that I want to hug my parents in the middle of a game screaming.

Christianity changed the world

This may sound downright bizarre to many Americans. (Even as I write this, I squirm slightly in embarrassment, wondering how weird people are going to think I am.) But once you accept that the The Catholic Church believes The Eucharist is truly Jesus, the debate over who should receive Communion makes more sense. While at times American Christianity has diluted the character of Jesus into a Santa Claus who works miracles, he is much more complicated than that.

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The Jesus of the Gospels welcomed everyone, invited everything, but he also demanded repentance and change. Just look at the apostle Peter, the first pope: he came from someone who refuse he knew Jesus, three times in a row, from someone who Recount Jesus, he loved him, three times, and he meant it so sincerely that he was years later crucified himself upside down.

Whatever the American Catholic Bishops do regarding this Eucharist document, I am grateful that we are having this conversation. Asked about it by a reporter, Biden replied that it was a “a personal subject. “But given that Biden is open about being Catholic and also open about her pro-abortion stance (which I would say flies in the face of science as well as Catholicism) the question is rightly public.

If there is one thing we can all agree on, it is that the presence of Jesus 2,000 years ago really changed the world, its effects rippling through those who converted and became the early Christians to the Roman officials who tried to crush this new religion. It is therefore logical that his presence in the Eucharist reaches not only hearts, but also the public place.

Katrina Trinko is a member of the USA TODAY Contributors Council and Editor-in-Chief of The Daily Signal. His views do not represent his employer, The Heritage Foundation. Follow her on Twitter: @KarinaTrinko