Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 8, 2022 / 14:05 pm (CNA).
A new survey shows that Catholics are more likely to profess belief in guardian angels than belief in the Catholic doctrine of the Eucharist. The results are both a challenge and an opportunity to grow in faith, commentators say.
“The more you draw close to the angels, the more they will draw you to the Eucharist.” Father Wolfgang Seitz, O.R.C., told CNA. “If devotion to angels would increase, devotion to the Eucharist would also increase,” said Seitz, who has been a priest for 20 years.
Seitz is secretary of the Opus Sanctorum Angelorum, an Ohio-based international Catholic movement that promotes devotion to the angels. It is directed by the priests of the Order of the Canons Regular of the Holy Cross.
His comments came in response to a new survey of Catholic voters that shows apparent inconsistencies in their approach to Catholic doctrine.
According to an EWTN News/RealClear Opinion Research poll released this week, almost 77% of Catholic voters believe in guardian angels, 8.7% do not, and 14.6% are not sure.
By contrast, only 50.3% of respondents say that they believe in the Catholic doctrine of the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, namely that “the transformed bread and wine are the Body and Blood of Christ and not symbols.”
Among the poll’s respondents, about 80% of Catholics who attend Mass once a week profess belief in this Catholic teaching. This figure drops to 61% among those who attend Mass once or twice a month and to 42% among those who attend a few times a year. About 17% of those who never attend Mass profess this belief, as do 14% of those who attend once a year.
By comparison, about 74% of those who attend Mass once or twice a month professed belief in guardian angels, similar to those who attend once a year. About 65% of those who never attend Mass or attend less than once a year said they believe in guardian angels.
The poll, conducted by the Trafalgar Group from Sept. 12–19, surveyed 1,581 Catholic voters and claims an overall margin of error of 2.5%. The questionnaire was administered using a mix of six different methods, including live phone calls, text messages, and email. Survey partner EWTN News is the parent company of Catholic News Agency.
An opportunity to spread Eucharistic devotion
Self-professed Catholics’ inconsistent beliefs about the Eucharist have been the focus of many catechetical and devotional efforts.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has launched a two-year National Eucharistic Revival to help Catholics “renew the Church by enkindling a living relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist,” the initiative’s website says. The revival hosts planned events to teach about the Eucharist and inspire Eucharistic devotion as part of Catholic life and mission.
Sister Alicia Torres, a Chicago-based Franciscan Sister of the Eucharist and executive team member for the National Eucharistic Revival, sees the poll results as an opportunity to engage Catholics.
“If there’s an openness to a relationship with one’s guardian angel, then that in and of itself, is an opportunity and an entry point where we might re-propose the relationship with Christ, and particularly his presence in the Eucharist,” she said.
Torres told CNA that she finds it “particularly hopeful” that the majority of Catholic respondents have “an awareness and acceptance of the supernatural.”
“I would be interested in that one-on-one conversation to get a better sense of what is the awareness of the supernatural for your average Catholic,” she added.
Torres questioned whether some of the Catholics surveyed have an active relationship with their guardian angel. Some of the older Catholics respondents may have been raised with the centuries-old prayer to their guardian angel, she said.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church affirms the reality of angels, Torres noted, and it says that the angels are present during the Eucharistic liturgy.
Though Catholics and other Christians don’t always believe in the doctrines of the Catholic Church, there is a “general interest” in angels, Seitz told CNA. Whether those who profess belief in angels mean the same thing that Catholicism does is a separate question.
“Our angels, as many Church fathers say, are prostrating before our Lord, who becomes present on the altar,” said Seitz. Although so many people speak about angels, he suggested, “it’s more difficult to believe in the Eucharist than to believe in angels.”
The world and the Church are “a little bit lost,” he said, because “we have lost a true, living contact with the holy angels.” Seitz said Catholic teaching on angels is summarized in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, but sometimes this is glossed over. Angels are rarely subjects of homilies.
“The angels are pure spirits. They are very powerful, with intellect and free will,” the priest explained. “They are personal beings. They are also created in the image and likeness of God. In the hierarchy of being, they are the highest of creatures, by nature, created by God.”
By divine plan, the angels are in charge of the government of the entire universe, from planets to plants, to rocks, to people, he said. It is in this context that individual people have a guardian angel.
“Every human being is destined to see God face to face,” said Seitz. “God, in his wisdom, assigned to each human a personal guardian angel as a companion, as a guide, leading us through life,” said the priest. “It is God’s plan for how to bring creation back to himself. The angels play a really big role in that.”
The angel at Fatima
Seitz cited the angelic and Marian apparitions at Fatima, Portugal, in the early 20th century, witnessed by three shepherd children who have since been canonized. The Catholic Church has taught that nothing about this apparition is inconsistent with the faith.
The Fatima apparitions include one of the few modern accounts of an angel encouraging devotion to the Eucharist.
In the fall of 1916, the children said, an angel made its third appearance. The children said an angelic visitor suspended the host and the chalice in the air, then bowed in adoration. The children imitated the angel, bowing their foreheads to the ground.
They learned from the angel a prayer of Eucharistic adoration and reparation that seeks the conversion of sinners. The angel gave the Blessed Sacrament to one girl, St. Lucia, and the Precious Blood to the two other children, Sts. Francisco and Jacinta.
“It’s a great instruction for us, regarding reverence before the Blessed Sacrament,” said Seitz.
Speaking more generally, he said that even the angels cannot fully understand the “profound condescension” of Jesus Christ’s incarnation and death on the Cross, and so too they cannot fully comprehend the mystery of the Eucharist.
“They can only prostrate themselves before this mystery and simply adore it,” said Seitz.
Other aspects of the Trafalgar survey of Catholic voters help give a snapshot of Catholic practice:
- Though Catholics must attend Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation, only about one-third of respondents report Mass attendance weekly or more often.
- About 24% of respondents attend Mass once a week, 7.5% attend more than once a week, and 1.% attend daily. Another 26% attend only “a few times a year,” 10.4% attend once or twice a month, and 4.6% attend once a year. About 12% attend less than once a year, while 14% never attend.
- Only about 23% go to confession once a year or more.
If you value the news and views Catholic World Report provides, please consider donating to support our efforts. Your contribution will help us continue to make CWR available to all readers worldwide for free, without a subscription. Thank you for your generosity!
Click here for more information on donating to CWR. Click here to sign up for our newsletter.
Angels benign or daemonic, real or comfortable imaginative fetish? Father Wolfgang Seitz O R C were to be proven if the current fetish on angels were not predominantly the New Age crystal charmed. His wishful thought connected to his Angelorum project [a critique not a dismissal of his efforts].
Spirits of the Air [akin the ancient Mesopotamian Pazuzu] abound, the kind warned of by the Apostle and need to discern spirits [a significant danger of the great Synodal search for truth listening to the Spirit]. Cardinal Gerhard Muller expressed alarm that we already have revelation and must not seek new revelation [implied with itching ears].
A new religion decades in existence has replaced Christianity [even traditional Christians now taken to enneagrams and a distorted understanding of benign angels]. Fr Seitz’ premise that angel ‘worship’ leads to Christ worship requires reevaluation. Rather, it should read Christ worship leads to correct appreciation of the angelic in its required knowledge of diverse forms and value.
Father Peter Morello I have become appalled by a particular priest beliefs in the enneagram he wrote books to teach Catholics about it. He also teaches many other heresies. His Bishops say nothing. He has written many books. He is woth alot of money I looked it up. My poimt is there are many false teachings. My friend at Bible class wanted us to studied this priest new age teaching instead of the Bible. I spoke up and said if we do vote for this I would never come back. So by taking a stand against a priest false teachins we are studing the Buble roots of the Eurcharist and the real presence
You do well Mary to study the Bible, especially the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles, and the letters which are clear regarding the heart of our faith in Christ, his real presence in the Holy Eucharist, the eternal character of the revealed Word of God. An excellent decision.
Error abounds in the Church modernism taking root decades past, the enneagram part of New Age spirituality [basically a cultic distancing from the primacy of Christ and focus on oneself as virtually an equal to Christ much of it a revival of the Gnosticism that competed with early Christianity]. Bishops who don’t address priests as you described here are moral cowards fearful of retribution, too timid to be leaders of the true faith.
Your faith in Christ will be blessed. You will be in my prayers for continued strength, spiritual guidance, as well as your witness to the truth of our faith.
Well said again, Fr Peter.
Well said, Mary.
“A new religion” one may conjecture! What marvels could supplant Jesus Christ? What could unseat His word or deeds?
All the same, God has assigned the angelic host to aid the believer.
Psalm 91:11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.
Hebrews 13:2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
Matthew 18:10 “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.
Jude 1:9 But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you.”
Our hope and prayers are in Jesus Christ, the propitiation for our sins. Seeing he died for us, we should honour Him in our entreaties and praise.
Well said, brother Brian.
And let’s recall Hebrews 1:5 & 6:
For to which of the angels did God ever say: “You are My Son; today I have become Your Father”? Or again: “I will be His Father, and He will be My Son”? And again, when God brings His firstborn into the world, He says: “Let all God’s angels worship Him.”
Dr Marty:
Lovely to see your name, have missed you. Indeed Hebrews 1:5 & 6.
Blessings,
Brian
@Brian Young. “A new religion one may conjecture! What marvels could supplant Jesus Christ? What could unseat His word or deeds?” (Brian Young). True. It cannot replace the true faith established by Christ. Although those who adhere to falsehoods are apostates creating their own religious drawing others in. A false representation of the true Church. It’s only the naive who marvel in disbelief and refuse to acknowledge this reality affecting the Church.
Fr Peter:
For us to examine ourselves before the word of the Lord is most appropriate. To subscribe to false doctrine and worse, to proclaim it puts our eternal soul in jeopardy. How may we know if we are on the correct path?
God aids the true seeker and His word is a lamp and light to those in Christ. This you know and proclaim. The following scripture is for those who do not know, yet seek the way of truth.
Romans 11:29 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
Matthew 4:19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
Revelation 12:10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
James 5:16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
Your needed work is appreciated.
Brian
Well said, Fr Peter.
Rejection of the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist is a blasphemy. How has this become a plague among Western Catholics; how could it be remedied?
I’ve learned from an isolated, elderly believer of the power of daily spiritual communion, based on John 6:53-58. So that, when able to be physically present at a Holy Mass, their experience of Jesus’ Real Presence is rock solid.
What is spiritual communion? First, one must have a daily missal and begin by meditating on the readings specified for that day in the liturgical calendar. The communicant is then able to pray, maybe after this pattern:
“Dear Lord Jesus, confessing our sins and in dire need of You, millions of us around the world, even at this moment, bring You bread and wine that You created and have given to us.
With love in His eyes, Jesus offers thanks, blesses the bread, and breaks it, telling us: ‘Take and eat my friends, this is My Body broken for you.’ From around the world a shout of thanks goes up: ‘Thank You, Lord Jesus; Your Flesh is real food!’
Then Jesus lifts the cup of wine, offers thanks and blesses it, and teaches us: ‘This is the cup of the New Covenant – God is fulfilling His promise of making a new agreement with all humankind – for this cup is in My own Blood, shed for you, so that your sins can be forgiven. Do this My friends so as to remember Me.’”
A combined shout is heard from around the world: “All praise and thanks to You, King Jesus Christ; Your Blood is real drink!” Millions at every moment each day are praying:
“Dear Jesus, You are the Head and have made us part of Your flesh and blood. We are one with You, with The Father, and with one another. May your Holy Spirit empower us to obey your law of love and so witness to the world that You were sent by Father God to embrace us in Your Body and eternal life.”
With spiritual communions like this as a daily experience, any Catholic will have no difficulty in recognizing the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in their physical communions at Holy Mass.
The Holy Trinity has mercifully provided a corrective for every blasphemous heresy, if we will but seek for it in the Bible.
Always in the grace and mercy of The Lamb of God; love & blessings from marty
Dear, Brother Martin, I was most pleased to see you commenting on this website once again, to my knowledge it is almost two months since your last post which was a courageous witness to the present reality of the state of the church today, a post that left me feeling concerned for your well-being. As reflected in my post given via the link below.
https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2022/09/13/anatomist-of-the-catholic-collapse-in-france-and-beyond/#comment-332624
Sincerely
kevin your brother
In Christ
My brother:
By the same token, a pleasure to see your name as well! Its been too long!The Lord has you add to the conversation through His word and command.
Blessings,
Brian
1 John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.
1 John 3:1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
Thank you Brain my brother for your comment, giving sound scriptural advice as always. Yes, may the love of God truly resonate within my heart too.
John 3:8 The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.”
Sincerely
kevin your brother
In Christ
Well, it is good that people want to commune with our heavenly Father through the “vine” in the form of Christ. Yes, the blood of Christ is as important as the Eucharist. The New Covenant is the key to solving the immigration problem, because with the Covenant are blessings and curses. (Lev 26, for example.)
For those who seek a “better life” in the United States, they ought to be given to understand that a better life involves obedience to the will of our heavenly Father. If a nation were to fervently turn to God, then that nation would be blessed with the promises of good agricultural weather, security and peace, and with prosperity.
More needs to be studied and taught concerning the Eternal Covenant with our heavenly Father, for Christ gave his blood as a Passover sacrifice, and to seal the Covenant (Lk 22.2O) that Jerimiah introduced — the Covenant that is written in our minds and on our hearts. (Jer 31.31-34)
Let the blood of Christ be venerated whenever the body of Christ is venerated.