Belief in the Eucharist has been a renewed focus for the American Catholic Church. A 2019 Pew survey showed that only 31% of Catholics believed in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. Just a few years later, the Catholic Church in the United States, with major support from Relevant Radio, convened a National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis. However, new data from Dr. Mark Regnerus, a professor of sociology at the University of Texas at Austin, shows that belief in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist remains about the same.

Regnerus, who joined The Drew Mariani Show to discuss his findings, counseled against discouragement. “The good news is…a majority of the people who are in the pews on any given Sunday do believe in the Real Presence in the Eucharist; it’s not as if our churches are full of people who don’t believe this.” 

According to his survey, 30% of respondents say they believe in the Real Presence, 58% say the Eucharist is just a symbol, and 12% say they are not sure. 

“I think that’s one of the basic things that you learn from this study is there’s a lot of people who don’t know their faith well,” Regnerus told Drew.

In data not published in the survey, the professor found strong belief (88%) in the real presence among respondents who attended Mass the previous weekend and for whom “religious faith is more important than anything else.’”

Regnerus sees much room for catechetical improvement. “There is this need for sort of a deepening enriching, a kind of a teaching focus.” Regnerus thinks the unsure 12% represents a group of “reachable people.” 

The Texas professor, in an article about his data, calls for an increase in catechetical homilies. 

“In a world where Catholics are saturated with information – and hence competitors to orthodox belief – it is incumbent on priests to remind parishioners what the Church holds to be true theologically.”