Latest Eucharistic Congress Goes Full Face-Plant

 

Between the good folks over at Pew Polling, Zogby International, the JIFC (Judas Iscariot Fan Club, AKA: "The USCCB"), etc., the number of Baptized Catholics who "regularly" attend Mass (usually defined at twice a month or more) is somewhere between 10 to 20 percent.

Whie I'm talking about polling, the best guess estimation of that amazingly small number who actually believe that our Consecrated Host is the actual Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of our Lord, Jesus Christ coincidentally also falls in someplace between 10 to 20 percent.

I'll go with the higher numbers of both guesstimates. So even amongst those who attend the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass "regularly" (20 percent), at best, only 20 percent believe that Christ is present in the Eucharist. 

That means that AT BEST, a mere four percent of Catholics actually adhere to one of the more core Catholic beliefs.  

But wait, there's more. If we use the smaller numbers (10 percent), that means a whopping 1 percent believe in the reality of the Eucharistic Christ. Looking at both sets of numbers, I have just one question; "What the hell happened?"

But in all fairness, I'll cite from two different news sources that at least identify themselves as Catholic.

First up, from the Facebook page of Regina Magazine;

REPORT FROM THE FIRST EUCHARISTIC CONGRESS

Attended the first Eucharistic Congress event tonight in Bemidji MN. Barron was the keynote speaker to a sparse audience. Organizers expected 4000 attendees and less than 2500 showed. Caterwauling guitars heard throughout. Rock concert style Tshirts for sale.

Day 2 of the Eucharistic Convention - still waiting to hear the specific list of action items that will help restore belief in the Real Presence.

None presented.

They're spending $50 million for this?

Now some from a piece by reporter Jonathan Liedl of the National Catholic Register;

More than 3,000 people attended the Star of the North Eucharistic Congress May 17-18 in Bemidji, Minnesota, which featured testimonies on Eucharistic devotion, Adoration and Mass, and catechetical talks from prominent Catholic speakers like Bishop Robert Barron and Father Mike Schmitz.

Here's a few things I'd like to make note of;

• RM (Regina Magazine) noted this git-pickin' hootenanny was billed as drawing some 4,000 souls, but less than 2,500 actually showed.
• Yet the NCR (National Catholic Register) never mentions how many the organizers expected. But they did publish that "More than 3,000" rolled in.

Regardless of who you believe, for the kick-off of a major event like a Eucharistic Congress, setting a rather low attendance target is pretty pathetic, at best. But when attendance is closer to the total population of Indian Springs Village, Alabama, you know you dropped the ball.

Another interesting thing I noted is that RM quite openly asked what solid solutions our feckless leaders have proposed. The quick answer... no, no they haven't.

Sadly, NCR wasn't much better when it comes to the bishops having any real answers.

Nothing about when it comes to making the congregation more aware of the Real Presence by way of more harder hitting sermons, especially when it comes to the sin of receiving unworthily. 
Nothing concerning stressing the Real Presence with deeds such as;

• Extended hours for Confessions

• No more of the sacramental redundancy of receiving under both Sacred Species

• Of course, bringing back the paten and/or the communion rail

But what the NCR did reference the "love of the Eucharist was a thread that ran through the lives of " various Catholics.

Amongst those noted was "St. Edith Stein." Just so we all know, there is no such Catholic saint known as St. Edith Stein.

Just like there is no St. Bruno von Egisheim-Dagsburg. But there is a Pope St. Leo IX.

There is no St. Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto. But there is a Pope St. Pius X.

To button this up, there is no St. Edith Stein. But there is a St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross.If the NCR can't even get the name of a recently canonized saint right, I'm finding it hard to accept their credibility when reporting on such heady topics such as the Eucharist.