In some ways, Wiccans are more Catholic than Catholics.
For over two thousand years, the Catholic Church has maintained its understanding of transubstantiation, which is the belief that during Mass, the bread and wine used for Communion become the actual, literal body and blood of Jesus Christ.
We know, it’s a hard teaching. People have thought so going all the way back to John, chapter 6.
This belief is one of the things that makes Catholics, um, Catholic. We don’t believe Jesus was speaking in metaphors when talking about it, otherwise, He probably would have said so upon noticing that, after speaking about it, “many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.” (John 6:66) (What are the chances of that exact verse being 666, by the way?!)
And yet, a 2019 Pew Research Center survey found that only 31% of self-described Catholics believed in this core teaching. (69% said the bread and wine were merely symbols of the body and blood of Christ.)
True believers agree with writer Flannery O’Connor, who said, “If it’s a symbol, to hell with it.”
It turns out you don’t need to be a Believer to believe.
Kevin Chilton is an astronaut who brought Holy Communion with him on each of his three space flights. I had the pleasure of hearing him speak about his experiences with Jesus in space. (You can watch the whole talk here.)
One of the notable observations he made was when sharing a conversation he had here on Earth with his parish priest. The priest told Kevin he was considering asking members of the Knights of Columbus to flank him at Mass during Communion. He thought the extra security might be wise after hearing reports of local members of the Wiccan community taking the Eucharist and putting it in their pockets to be used in sacrilegious rituals.
Kevin said, “Father, isn’t it interesting that 100 percent of Wiccans believe the Eucharist is the True Presence of Jesus, but only 30 percent of Catholics believe it?”
His observation floored me as I considered that in this particular way, Wiccans appear to be more Catholic than Catholics. Of course, this does not reward them any great merit, for even the devil knows what’s what.
Fr. Gabriele Amorth, exorcist for the Diocese of Rome, had this to say, “I always repeat that all who dedicated themselves to satanic masses or to Satanism believe in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist! If not, they would not make so much effort to gain possession of consecrated Hosts.”
It’s hard to argue with that logic.
The good news is that the number of believers in the Church is on the rise.
The Pew study served as a catalyst for the National Eucharistic Revival, an initiative of the U.S. bishops. It began in 2022 to spread and deepen devotion to Christ in the Eucharist and culminated with the National Eucharistic Congress, held in Indianapolis in 2024.
A newer study has found that 69% of Mass-going Catholics believe in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.
This is encouraging.
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