Groundbreaking Survey of U.S. Catholics Reveals Path to Restoring Eucharistic Belief

[Dawn Marie]

Groundbreaking Survey of U.S. Catholics Reveals Path
to Restoring Eucharistic Belief

Single largest survey of Catholics ever completed in the United States –
79% of which primarily attend the Novus Ordo Mass.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Vicki Yamasaki

October 15 2024 [e-mail]

Today the Real Presence Coalition (RPC) announced the release of the findings of its survey of
U.S. Catholics to the general public. The survey results can be found at
https://realpresencecoalition.com/results/

In conjunction with the public release, the RPC also issued an open letter to U.S. bishops urging
them to consider the survey’s findings as they proceed in their National Eucharistic Revival
campaign.

“This is the single largest survey of Catholics ever undertaken in the United States,” said Vicki
Yamasaki, spokesperson for the RPC. “Surveys from organizations such as Pew Research and
Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) come nowhere close to the number of
Catholics participating in this survey.”

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) launched a multi-year National
Eucharistic Revival campaign in 2021 in response to a Pew Research study which revealed a
majority of Catholics no longer believe in the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.
“The Pew survey revealed a very concerning problem, and the RPC designed and initiated this
survey to specifically get at the root cause of this problem and probe the question of why lay
Catholics believe there has been a loss of faith in the Real Presence,” said Jim Hobart, a partner
with Public Opinion Strategies (POS) who assisted in the survey effort.

The RPC survey revealed that the loss of faith in the Real Presence has been precipitated by a
combination of factors, including
1) Receiving the Eucharist in the hand;
2) Scandal of offering the Eucharist to public sinners who reject Catholic teaching;
3) Lack of reverence on the part of both the laity and priests;
4) Lack of solid catechesis; and
5) Lost sense of the supernatural.

Survey respondents also offered a number of specific recommendations to U.S. bishops on how
to restore belief in the Real Presence, including:
1) Encouraging the practice of receiving the Eucharist on the tongue while kneeling;
2) Catechizing the faithful;
3) Promoting greater reverence for the Eucharist;
3) Eliminating the use of Extraordinary Ministers;
4) Withholding the Eucharist from public sinners; and
5) Increasing Eucharistic events such as Adoration and Benedictions.

“The overall findings of this survey can be best summarized by ancient Latin maxim ‘lex orandi,
lex credenda’” said John-Henry Westen, a RPC member. “There’s currently a disconnect
between the way we worship and what we believe. There’s no single ‘silver bullet’ answer to
solving this problem. An integrated, multifaceted approach will be required.”

“How will we know when there’s been a restoration of belief in the Real Presence?” asked Fr.
Chad Ripperger, an RPC member. “When the line for confession is at least as long as the line
for receiving the Eucharist.”

Public Opinion Strategies (POS) is a nationally recognized research firm that has conducted
25,000 research projects and 11 million interviews across 50 states. POS was engaged to assist
in the survey design as well as the interpretation of its results.

The Real Presence Coalition (RPC) is an informal group of influential Catholics working to
restore belief in Jesus Christ’s Real Presence in the Holy Eucharist. Its mission is to provide
valuable input to U.S. bishops in their multi-year effort to restore belief in the Real Presence of
Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.

The massive RPC survey resulted in nearly 16,000 responses with an 80% completion rate and
generated more than 250,000 words of open-ended feedback. While the survey was open to
all U.S. Catholics, those who responded could best be characterized as “highly engaged in their
faith,” with over 97% of respondents attending Mass on at least a weekly basis. 79% of
respondents either exclusively or primarily attend the Novus Ordo Mass.

The Real Presence Coalition urges the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to consider these
findings as they work toward a Eucharistic Revival. The survey’s insights provide a roadmap for
restoring faith in the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.

NOTE: Public Opinion Strategies is available for interviews and consultations with individual
bishops. Please contact Vicki Yamasaki to make arrangements.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/10/survey-released-catholic-c...

[Joseph]

The $64,000 question is will the American bishops do anything about it?