In their fall conference in Baltimore, held from November 15-18, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) voted in favor of a new document on the Euchaist, entitled: “The Mystery of the Eucharist in the Life of the Church.” The document reaffirms the historical Church teaching of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist and against receiving Communion while in a state of mortal sin. The vote passed with 222 bishops voting in favor and eight voting against, with three abstentions.
The document was the product of an earlier vote by the bishops to draft a document on “eucharistic coherence.” In a meeting held in June, the bishops voted to pay closer attention to the Sacrament and its role in the Church.
Some bishops worried that the document on eucharistic coherence might be used to “weaponize the Eucharist” to deny communion to Catholic politicians who disagree with Church teachings on issues such as abortion, euthanasia, and marriage. The initial idea for the document was the product of a working group of bishops to address the Biden administration’s policy goals. President Biden, among others, publicly supports abortion throughout the entirety of a pregnancy and same-sex marriage, even officiating one such ceremony between White House staffers in 2016, in opposition to Church teaching.
The document has two sections: “The Gift” and “Our Response.” The first section focuses on the spiritual and Biblical importance of the Eucharist, emphasizing the nature of the Eucharist as a sacrifice born of Christ’s love. It also re-emphasizes the long-held teaching that the Eucharist is the Body and Blood of Christ. As the document explains:
“How can Jesus Christ be truly present in what still appears to be bread and wine? In the liturgical act known as the epiclesis, the bishop or priest, speaking in the person of Jesus Christ, calls upon the Father to send down his Holy Spirit to change the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ, and this change occurs through the institution narrative, by the power of the words of Christ pronounced by the celebrant.”
“Our Response” calls on Catholics to receive the sacrament with gratitude, and speaks to the role of the Eucharist in conversion. It speaks to the element of “coherence,” wherein a Catholic who is in a state of mortal sin should not present himself to receive the sacrament of Holy Communion without first receiving the sacrament of Reconciliation.
Pope Francis, then Cardinal Bergoglio, was the architect of the phrase “eucharistic coherence” in a 2006 document, known as the Aparecida Document, which stressed the importance of Catholic public officials adhering to Catholic teaching, especially when “grave crimes against life and the family are encouraged.”
The new USCCB document does not draw on the language of the Aparecida Document, but effectively stresses the same point. Rather than singling out any specific politicians, the USCCB document teaches all Catholics about the importance of treating the Eucharist with reverence when we are in a fallen state. Again from the document:
“To receive the Body and Blood of Christ while in a state of mortal sin represents a contradiction. The person who, by his or her own action, has broken communion with Christ and his Church but receives the Blessed Sacrament, acts incoherently, both claiming and rejecting communion at the same time.”
The document is part of a larger strategic plan for a eucharistic revival campaign. Polls showing a growing lack of belief in the Real Presence of the Eucharist emphasized the need for the bishops to reconsider how the Eucharist is taught to Catholics. The campaign will focus on creating new teaching materials for priests and educators, a website dedicated to the revival campaign, and a commission of 50 priests to travel nationwide to speak about the Eucharist.
The campaign will conclude in 2024 with a National Eucharist Congress, which is to be held in Indianapolis. The National Eucharist Congress is the first of its kind to be held in nearly 50 years. Indianapolis was chosen because of its centrality in the country; nearly half of the country lives within a day’s drive from Indianapolis. The USCCB hopes that such a location will help draw in the nation’s Catholics to attend the Congress, which will be the culmination of a lot of hard work on the part of the Church to teach anew the theology of the Eucharist.
Staff Photo courtesy of Olivia Colombo
Tom is a senior in the Lynch School, where he is studying Secondary Education, History, and Philosophy, with a minor in Restorative Justice. He is President of the Boston College Republicans, and President emeritus of the St. Thomas More Society. When not taking too many classes or writing for The Torch or The Free Press, Tom loves to watch sports, listen to metal music, and defend Leo Strauss against (unfair) accusations of Gnosticism.
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