On June 19, 2025, Catholics will celebrate Corpus Christi, a feast dedicated to the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. Established in 1264 by Pope Urban IV, Corpus Christi invites the faithful to adore Christ through Mass, processions, and adoration. This feast comes at a critical time for the U.S. Church, where belief in the Real Presence is faltering, partly due to a flawed 2019 Pew Research survey. Additionally, a growing number of bishops are deterring the faithful from receiving Communion on the tongue while kneeling. This trend, described by Cardinal Robert Sarah as a “diabolical attack” on Eucharistic faith, risks alienating vulnerable Catholics on the brink of leaving the Church.
The Flawed 2019 Pew Research Survey
If you are fortunate enough to have a pastor that recognizes Thursday – the actual feast day of Corpus Christi – praise God! However, now in the U.S., The Feast of Corpus Christi, is most often celebrated the Sunday (June 22) after Trinity Sunday. This feast honors the Eucharist as the source and summit of the Christian life. Its origins lie in the 13th-century visions of St. Juliana of Liège and the Miracle of Bolsena, where a host bled, proving to all the transubstantiation—when the bread and wine become Christ’s true body and blood. We long to adore our Eucharistic Lord as we sing St. Thomas Aquinas’s hymn, “Tantum Ergo.
Belief in the Real Presence is under siege. A 2019 Pew Research study, widely cited as showing only one-third of U.S. Catholics believe in transubstantiation, was deeply flawed: 82% of its 1,800 respondents attended Mass only sporadically, making their disbelief unsurprising.Unfortunately, this skewed data from the 2019 Pew Survey prompted the USCCB to launch the National Eucharistic Revival, focusing on engaged Catholics misses those who rarely attend Mass or are vulnerable to leaving due to declining reverence.
Meanwhile, bishops discouraging reverent practices like kneeling and tongue reception further erode faith, deepening the crisis.
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