The largest survey of Catholics in the United States ever conducted found that the faithful overwhelmingly say that receiving Holy Communion in the hand has led to loss of faith in the Eucharist and that they want a restoration of traditional liturgical practices.
(LifeSiteNews) — The largest survey of U.S. Catholics ever conducted shows that the faithful want reverent, solemn worship and an end to distributing Holy Communion in the hand and the use of extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion.
On Tuesday, the Real Presence Coalition (RPC) released the results of its massive July 2024 survey seeking to identify causes of a lack of faith in the Eucharist among many self-professed Catholics in the United States.
The survey, conducted with assistance from the national polling firm Public Opinion Strategies, received nearly 16,000 responses, including from 14,725 U.S. lay Catholics across every Latin diocese in the country. 780 responses were submitted by attendees of the U.S. bishops’ National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis.
“This is the single largest survey of Catholics ever undertaken in the United States,” said RPC spokesperson Vicki Yamasaki. “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.”
Notably, the RPC survey drew heavily upon practicing Catholics, with 97 percent of respondents saying that they attend Mass at least once a week and believe in the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. Most respondents, 84 percent, identified themselves as Catholics “from infancy.”
Asked what has contributed most to loss of faith in the Eucharist, respondents overwhelmingly cited reception of Holy Communion in the hand while standing, with nearly 58 percent saying it has had the “greatest” level of impact.
They also pointed to the scandal of offering Holy Communion to public sinners who reject Catholic teaching, lack of reverence in the presence of the Eucharist, casual attitudes toward the Eucharist from clergy, failure to catechize the faithful, and moving the tabernacle away from the center of the sanctuary.
More than 71 percent of respondents ranked “homosexuality in the priesthood” as having a “major” or “greatest” level of impact on the decline of belief in the Eucharist as well.
A majority also said that the use of extraordinary ministers, replacement of sacred music with contemporary music, ending ad orientem worship, removing altar rails, failing to hold Eucharistic events like adoration and processions, the decline of beauty in church architecture and liturgy, and the clerical abuse crisis have had “major” or “greatest” impact.
The Real Presence Coalition, a group of prominent Catholic figures that includes Bishop Joseph Strickland, Bishop Athanasius Schneider, Father Donald Calloway, MIC, and LifeSiteNews CEO and co-founder John-Henry Westen, noted that respondents expressed concern about “a general decline in reverence during Mass, including casual dress, loud talking, and treating the Mass as a social event.”
Respondents additionally criticized “irreverent conduct” among the clergy, “with reports of priests rushing through liturgical prayers and failing to handle the Eucharist with care,” and “weak leadership among Church leaders, undermining the Church’s moral authority and causing scandal among the faithful.”
“There is a strong perception that Church leaders, including bishops and the Pope, are inconsistent and weak in upholding Canon 915,” which requires Holy Communion to be denied to manifest grave sinners, according to a presentation by Public Opinion Strategies.
“Many respondents expressed concern over the lack of reverence shown to the tabernacle, such as failing to genuflect or bow when passing it, casual behavior around it, and laypeople accessing it,” the presentation added.
Survey respondents proposed numerous recommendations to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) on renewing faith in the Eucharist, with the top recommendation being encouraging reception of the Eucharist on the tongue while kneeling (29 percent). The next was catechizing the faithful, such as on transubstantiation and worthy reception (24 percent).
Respondents further urged bishops to promote “greater reverence for the Eucharist,” for example, by kneeling and genuflecting, to eliminate extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion, and to deny Communion to public sinners.