Transubstantiation

Though I'm Hellenic now, I grew up culturally Roman Catholic. While my parents weren't especially devout compared to the experiences of many other Christians (parents liked to talk about Christ and theology but we didn't attend church and my father is very critical of organized practice), it definitely had an effect on my upbringing. OCD aside, I celebrated holidays venerating saints and I was forbidden from taking communion by my mother since I was not baptized (she didn't get us baptized at birth because she wanted us to make that decision on our own- thank you, mom!)

Despite growing up and being told by others both that Roman Catholicism isn't "real" Christianity and also that it's the ONLY "real" Christianity, I've noticed many people my age are ignorant of the differences between sects of Christianity. Last night I saw a post from a Christian (she didn't specify further) talking about how you can't catch COVID from communion because it's the actual body of Christ. My own thoughts on its contagiousness aside, I noticed a lot of people in the comments who were Christians and even Roman Catholics chastising her and telling her that it's meant to be symbolic and not literal.

Historically for the Roman Catholoc church and a couple others that's not...entirely true. I was surprised by how many of Christian faith were unaware just how common this belief is.

So though I'm not an expert and I haven't been a Christian for a good while, I wanted to briefly talk about transubstantiation. Feel free to correct me if any of you know more than me and I get any details wrong.

Transubstantiation in Roman Catholic theology is the literal transformation of bread and wine into the body of Christ. It can be traced historically back to the 11th century. Though the physical appearance of the matter remains the same, it is the essence that is transformed into the actual body of the savior Jesus Christ. It is transformed (spiritually, chemically, molecularly) through a priest speaking as Christ and performing consecration, and it is necessary for salvation. It is the continuation of Jesus Christ's sacrifice, whereby followers of Christ participate.

It is not to be received by those who are not baptized or (generally) by those who are not of the Roman Catholic religion, or by those who are in a state of mortal sin. This is to prevent desecration.

Other sects of Christianity also believe in the literal aspect of of Eucharist or communion, but use different , practices, or theological focal points. These include Eastern Orthodoxy, and some Anglican and Lutheran churches. Some sects that definitively historically do NOT believe in the literal presence of Christ's blood and flesh, but a symbolic presence, include Calvinism, Presbytarianism, and Baptism, generally.

This is just one of the many variances in sects of Christianity, but I hope those of you who learned something new found it interesting and enjoyed reading! Again, this was a very brief overview, but you can read more by researching "Eucharistic Theology" and "Transubstantiation" if you're interested!