The following is a brief reflection given by Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò after he was asked if he could comment on the findings of the largest survey of Catholics in the United States which found that the #1 reason for loss of faith in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist is communion in the hand.
The poll conducted by the Real Presence Coalition confirms what was already evident when Paul VI authorized the modification of the discipline in this matter. First of all, it was clear that the so-called “reforms” imposed by a group of subversives Modernists did not respond to any request “from the grass roots.” Neither the Novus Ordo nor the new ways of administering Communion were the fruit of a real need of the ecclesial body. The opposite is true, however, that the so-called liturgical reform was intended to help spread the doctrine it contained among the clergy and the faithful, causing the πρᾶξις (praxis) to influence the δόξα (belief). The concept summarized by the adage Lex orandi, lex credendi has been widely adopted by the proponents of the conciliar reform, but in reverse and maliciously: in this case it is not in fact the oρθοδοξία (orthodoxy) that determines the ὀρθοπραξία (orthopraxy), but the ἑτεροπραξία (heteropraxy) that shapes the ἑτεροδοξία (heterodoxy).
The faithful who are asked to kneel to receive Holy Communion in the mouth are led by the gestures they make to recognize the Real Presence in the Sacred Species and to adhere to the corresponding Catholic doctrine. Similarly, the faithful who are asked not to kneel and to touch the Host with their hands end up believing the heterodox doctrine insinuated by the Reformed rites. This doctrinal change is further favored when the ritual change replaces an entirely opposite practice.
Continue reading at LifeSite News