Transubstantiation

From a 2021 Dawkins twitter thread:

Roman Catholics are required to believe that communion wine actually is literally the blood of Christ, and the wafer literally is his body. Not symbolically but literally. Not a metaphor but literally. That way madness lies. At very least it’s a pernicious abuse of language.

Most Catholics don’t believe the official dogma:

“… the entire substance of the bread and the entire substance of the wine are converted respectively into the Body and Blood of Christ in such a way that ‘only the appearances of bread and wine remain’.”

https://bit.ly/3da1Qvc 2:59 AM · Apr 11, 2021·Twitter

The responses prove his point. Here's a selection:

• Only atheists believe that the bread andcwine changes literally into the body and blood of Christ. Everyone else knows that it is symbolic. Everyone else also understands that cannabilism is the eating of flesh and blood of one's own species and that bread and wine is not of us.

• Sorry, I’m an atheist that was raised Catholic.

They do not actually believe the bread and wine are the actual body and blood of Christ. Stop it.

• I'm a former Catholic who attended parochial schools for 16 years (including a Jesuit University), and your statement is wrong. The wafer & wine were only a "symbolic" representation of the body and blood of Christ. It's ludricrous to imply that anyone thought otherwise.

• If I tweeted the nonsense you tweet about religion in biology, I would be embarrassed going out to the street or ever showing my face again at a conference.

Sacramental real presence is not a physical change. Nice how you contradict yourself within the same thread.

• Cannibalism? I was raised Catholic. Nobody believed it was actually blood or flesh. We knew it was grape juice and stale crackers.

• As an ex-Catholic, I can confirm that this isn’t true. All Catholics I knew believed it was either metaphor or a “spiritual” thing. Absolutely no-one believed that we were being cannibals, not even the priest.

• I was raised in a Catholic household and never in my life did I ever hear of anybody that ever believed that literally. It doesn’t matter what ancient words the priest utters.

• Now I remember why I have you blocked! I’m a Roman Catholic and what you’ve just said is WRONG!! As per usual It’s a re-enactment of the LAST SUPPER and what Jesus was witnessed to have said!! It’s also a reference to the Holy Spirit, this is my body- lol up the hymn for ref

• I was always taught it was symbolic. Not sure you're right on this.

• Actually, Catholic teaching is that the physical form is symbolic. It is symbolic. True symbol. The presence is a sacramental, not physical presence. Study theology first if you want to discuss theology.

• I’m Catholic and I’ve never been thought to believe this, it’s always been taught as a symbol or metaphor from first communion onwards. You are crazy if this is what you think catholics believe.

• 18 years of catholic school hard labor under my belt and no they don’t teach you this