How does one refute Vanity Fair's article re: the Eucharist?

[LSK]

A statement has been made in this month’s Vanity Fair that Catholics are not bound by an article of faith to believe that the Eurcharist is the actual Body and Blood of Our Savior. In fact, reference is made to the fact that this is so Protestants will not regard us as cannibals.

I believe this is incorrect. I am reading through the Catechism - 15 minutes a day - but have not yet gotten to this part and would like some guidance as to how to properly address this in my letter to the editor.

Thank you.

 

[Fr.Vincent_Serpa]

Dear Leslie,

A lot depends on what the article means by saying that the Eucharist is the actual Body and Blood of Jesus. We do not believe that He is present in the Eucharist in the same manner that He was present to the Apostles as they saw Him. We do not eat a finger of some part of His body as a cannibal would eat a human body. The Church teaches that He is sacramentally present in the Eucharist. At the Last Supper the Apostles beheld His physical presence before them and they also beheld His sacramental presence under the appearance of bread and wine.

This is not a symbolic presence. He is truly present before us in the Eucharist. The bread and wine actually become His Body and Blood.

This is a “De Fide” article of faith, defined by the Council of Trent. Numbers 1376 and 1377 in the Catechism of the Catholic Church state this.

See this also in the original Catholic Encyclopedia:

• The Real Presence
  Fr. Vincent Serpa, O.P.