Yes, NPR editors, Holy Communion isn’t a semi-Baptist ‘symbolic’ rite for Catholic believers — GetReligion
Consider, for example. this statement in the Southern Baptist document entitled “The Baptist Faith and Message” containing concepts very familiar to people (like me, an SBC preacher’s kid) raised in a Baptist congregation:
The Lord’s Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of the church, through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming.
“Symbolic.” Check.
“Memorialize.” Check.
Now, contrast that with this short statement from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops about Catholic teachings on the sacrament — not an ordinance — of Holy Communion:
In the celebration of the Eucharist, bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit and the instrumentality of the priest. The whole Christ is truly present — body, blood, soul, and divinity — under the appearances of bread and wine, the glorified Christ who rose from the dead. This is what the Church means when she speaks of the “Real Presence” of Christ in the Eucharist.
How did a bite of Baptist and or evangelical Protestant doctrine about the Lord’s Supper end up in a report about this very, very Catholic doctrinal controversy?
The NPR story has been updated with language stating:
Cordileone notified members of the archdiocese in a letter on Friday that Pelosi must publicly repudiate her support for abortion rights in order to take Holy Communion — a ritual meal of bread and wine that celebrates the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.
That’s not the whole story about what Catholics believe is happening during a Mass, is it?
Still, NPR leaders deserve some applause for running an actual correction about this error, rather than ghost-editing the online text as if this train wreck had never happened. Thus:
Correction
May 22, 2022
An earlier version of this story incorrectly described the Catholic sacrament of communion as a symbolic meal of bread and wine. Catholics believe the bread and wine are transformed into the body and blood of Jesus.
Actually, that correction is better than the revised story. Maybe another update?
FIRST IMAGE: Illustration with a feature entitled “Can Baptism and the Lord’s Supper Go Online?” published by The Gospel Coalition.
