US study links traditional Catholic practices to stronger belief among American Catholics

The Catholic Herald • September 23, 2025

A new study has found that Pre-Vatican practices are strongly associated with belief  in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist.

The research, by Dr Natalie A. Lindemann of William Paterson University, appears in the latest volume of the Catholic Social Science Review. It builds on her earlier work by using a larger and more representative sample of American Catholics and examining additional factors influencing Eucharistic belief.

Her survey of 860 Catholics found that only 31 per cent were certain of the Real Presence, while nearly a quarter said they were certain the Eucharist is merely a symbol, with the remainder falling in between.

One of the most striking findings was that Catholics who had only ever received Communion on the tongue expressed much stronger belief in the Real Presence than those who had only received in the hand. 25-30 per cent believed in the Real Presence, as opposed to 55-60 per cent of those who received Communion on the tongue. 

The Belief was also higher among those who more often saw others receiving on the tongue. Optional survey comments reinforced this trend with respondents who favoured reception on the tongue reported average belief scores above four on a five-point scale, while those preferring reception in the hand scored barely above two and a half.

Similarly, those who regularly heard consecration bells at Mass reported a markedly higher rate of belief than those who never did. The use of bells, long a feature of the Roman Rite, appeared to reinforce the centrality of the consecration. 55-60 per cent of those who heard bells professed a certain belief in the real presence, where as only 20–25 per cent of those who did not professed a belief. Tabernacle location, however, showed no effect on belief in the Real Presence.

Exposure to the TLM was also associated with higher levels of Eucharistic faith. Catholics who attended a parish that offered the Latin Mass reported stronger belief than those whose parish did not. 

Dr Lindemann notes that kneeling, genuflecting, or passively receiving Communion may form and reinforce belief in a way that more casual or optional practices do not. Her conclusions echo earlier research suggesting that non-verbal signs of reverence communicate the sacredness of the Eucharist as effectively as explicit catechesis.

The research also notes broader historical trends. Demographic data show that Real Presence belief was highest among Catholics who grew up before the Second Vatican Council, when the TLM was still the norm, and lowest among those whose formative years were in the decades immediately following the Council.

Dr Lindemann concludes that a return to these practices could strengthen Eucharistic belief among Catholics in the United States.

(Photo by Matt Rourke-Pool/Getty Images)