7-05 Real Presence and the Pew Report: What's Really Happening?

Every couple of years, the Pew Research Center releases a report that shows increasing Catholicdisbelief in the real presence of the Eucharist. But what does this report mean, and what canreligious educators do about it? In this session, we will explore typical responses, from doublingdown on catechesis about transubstantiation to dismissing the findings altogether as biased. Inthis session, catechists and religious educators will discover an alternative reading of this report.The problem is not with bad catechesis alone or an outdated way of explaining real presence.Instead, the problem is with a Eucharistic catechesis that separates doctrine and practice.Eucharistic formation unites the two and is lifelong, fostering the spiritual senses of eachCatholic to “taste and see” the goodness of the Lord throughout one’s life. This session will beespecially valuable to catechists preparing children for First Communion, Catholic schoolteachers, catechists in the RCIA, and all those looking to better understand the Eucharist.

Timothy P. O'Malley is a Catholic theologian, author, and teacher. He serves in the McGrath Institute for Church Life at Notre Dame as the director of education and academic director of the Notre Dame Center for Liturgy. He teaches at Notre Dame on marriage and family, sacramental theology, catechesis, and Catholic education in the Department of Theology at Notre Dame. Dr. O'Malley serves as an executive member of the Eucharistic Revival and a theological consultant for Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth, with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. He also serves on the Mission Committee of the Board of Trustees at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, TX and as President of the Society for Catholic Liturgy. Prof. O'Malley is the author of seven books including Becoming Eucharistic People: The Hope and Promise of Parish Life (Ave Maria Press), Real Presence, the award-winning Off the Hook, Invitation and Encounter: Evangelizing through the Sacraments, Divine Blessing: Liturgical Formation in the RCIA, Bored Again Catholic, and Liturgy and the New Evangelization. His articles have appeared in publications such as America magazine, Religion News Service, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles' Angelus Magazine, and Our Sunday Visitor.