Church Life Today

What is the belief of ordinary Catholics around the Eucharist? That is a harder question to answer that it might at first seem. You could put forward two options and ask a respondent if they believe this or that. But it is not easy to phrase those options correctly, nor is it easy to ensure that your respondent understands what you are trying to ask. Belief in the Eucharist is not easy, and neither is asking about it.A new study commissioned by the McGrath Institute for Church Life and conducted by CARA at Georgetown University attempts to get closer to the real Eucharistic beliefs of ordinary Catholics. More precision was put into the questions and possible answers, an opportunity was given for open-ended responses, and sustained reflection on all the responses yielded some more textured findings than previous national studies produced. Today, I talk with my colleague, Dr. Tim O’Malley, about this new study, its findings and their significance for renewing Eucharistic belief in the Church. Tim published an a