Editing Transubstantiation (section)

{{Short description|Catholic sacramental doctrine}}
{{Eucharist|expanded=Theology}}
[[File:Transubstantiation Eucharistic Adoration at St Thomas Aquinas Cathedral in Reno NV USA.jpg|thumb|Transubstantiation – the [[Real presence of Christ in the Eucharist|real presence]] of [[Jesus]] in the [[Eucharistic Adoration]] at [[Saint Thomas Aquinas Cathedral]] in [[Reno, Nevada|Reno]], [[Nevada]]]]
'''Transubstantiation''' ({{Langx|la|transubstantiatio}}; [[Greek language|Greek]]: μετουσίωσις ''[[metousiosis]]'') is, according to the teaching of the [[Catholic Church]], "the change of the whole substance of [[sacramental bread|bread]] into the substance of the [[Body of Christ]] and of the whole substance of wine into the substance of the [[Blood of Christ]]".<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church |url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/compendium_ccc/documents/archive_2005_compendium-ccc_en.html |website=vatican.va}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Eucharist: What is the Eucharist? |url=https://www.usccb.org/eucharist |access-date=March 17, 2023 |website=www.usccb.org}}</ref> This change is brought about in the [[Eucharist|eucharistic prayer]] through the efficacy of the word of Christ and by the action of the [[Holy Spirit in Christianity|Holy Spirit]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Liturgy of the Eucharist: Eucharistic Prayer |url=https://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/the-mass/order-of-mass/liturgy-of-the-eucharist |access-date=March 17, 2023 |website=www.usccb.org}}</ref> However, "the outward characteristics of bread and wine, that is the 'eucharistic species', remain unaltered".<ref name=":1" /> In this teaching, the notions of "substance" and "transubstantiation" are not linked with any particular theory of [[metaphysics]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=McNamara |first=Edward |title=Liturgy Q & A: On Transubstantiation |url=https://zenit.org/2016/04/19/liturgy-q-a-on-transubstantiation/ |access-date=March 17, 2023 |website=www.zenit.org|date=19 April 2016 }}</ref>

The Catholic Church teaches that, in the Eucharistic offering, bread and wine are changed into the body and blood of Christ.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fay |first=William |date=2001 |title=The Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Sacrament of the Eucharist: Basic Questions and Answers |url=http://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/the-mass/order-of-mass/liturgy-of-the-eucharist/the-real-presence-of-jesus-christ-in-the-sacrament-of-the-eucharist-basic-questions-and-answers.cfm |access-date=13 December 2015 |website=United States Conference of Catholic Bishops |quote=the Catholic Church professes that, in the celebration of the Eucharist, bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Ghost and the instrumentality of the priest.}}</ref><ref>Wilfried Apfalter, "Science, Law, and Transubstantiation", ''Theology and Science'' 22:1 (2024) 172–183.</ref> The affirmation of this doctrine on the [[real presence of Christ in the Eucharist]] was expressed, using the word "transubstantiate", by the [[Fourth Council of the Lateran]] in 1215.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Internet History Sourcebooks Project |url=https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/basis/lateran4.asp |website=sourcebooks.fordham.edu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Lateran Council &#124; Roman Catholicism |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Lateran-Council-Roman-Catholicism |website=Encyclopedia Britannica}}</ref> It was later challenged by various 14th-century reformers, [[John Wycliffe]] in particular.<ref name="OEOR">{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Transubstantiation |encyclopedia=The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Reformation |publisher=Oxford University Press |url=http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195064933.001.0001/acref-9780195064933-e-1414 |access-date=2017-05-30 |date=2005 |editor-last=Hillebrand |editor-first=Hans J. |isbn=978-0-19-506493-3}}</ref> 

The manner in which the change occurs, the Catholic Church teaches, is a mystery: "The signs of bread and wine become, in a way surpassing understanding, the Body and Blood of Christ."<ref name=":0" /> In [[Lutheranism]], the terminology used regarding the real presence is the doctrine of the [[sacramental union]], in which the "very body and blood of Christ" is received.<ref name="MattoxRoeber2012">{{cite book |last1=Mattox |first1=Mickey L. |last2=Roeber |first2=A. G. |title=Changing Churches: An Orthodox, Catholic, and Lutheran Theological Conversation |date=27 February 2012 |publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing |isbn=978-0-8028-6694-3 |page=54 |language=en |quote=In this "sacramental union," Lutherans taught, the body and blood of Christ are so truly united to the bread and wine of the Holy Communion so that the two may be identified. They are at the same time body and blood, bread and wine. This divine food is given, more-over, not just for the strengthening of faith, nor only as a sign of our unity in faith, nor merely as an assurance of the forgiveness of sin. Even more, in this sacrament the Lutheran Christian receives the very body and blood of Christ for the strengthening of the union of faith. The "real presence" of Christ in the Holy Sacrament is the means by which the union of faith, effected by God's Word and the sacrament of baptism, is strengthened and maintained.}}</ref><ref name="Voigt1917">{{cite book |last1=Voigt |first1=A. G. |title=Biblical Dogmatics |date=1917 |publisher=Press of Lutheran Board of Publication |page=215 |language=en}}</ref> In the [[Greek Orthodox Church]], the doctrine has been discussed under the term of ''[[metousiosis]]'', coined as a direct loan-translation of ''transubstantiatio'' in the 17th century. In [[Eastern Orthodoxy]] in general, the [[Sacred mysteries#Eastern Orthodoxy|Sacred Mystery]] (Sacrament) of the Eucharist is more commonly discussed using alternative terms such as "trans-elementation" ({{Lang|el|μεταστοιχείωσις}}, ''metastoicheiosis''), "re-ordination" ({{Lang|el|μεταρρύθμισις}}, ''metarrhythmisis''), or simply "change" ({{Lang|el|μεταβολή}}, ''metabole'').

In the [[Reformed Christianity|Reformed]] tradition, a [[Lord's Supper in Reformed theology|real spiritual presence]] is taught; this view is held in [[Anglicanism]], especially by those of the Evangelical-Reformed tradition, though others including those of the High Church tradition hold to a corporeal presence.<ref name="González1987">{{cite book |last1=González |first1=Justo L. |title=A History of Christian Thought: From the Protestant Reformation to the twentieth century |date=1987 |publisher=Abingdon Press |isbn=978-0-687-17184-2 |language=en|quote=It is clear that, in rejecting Roman Catholic doctrine on this point, Cranmer has also rejected Luther's views and adopted Calvin's position. The sacrament is not merely a symbol of what takes place in the heart, but neither is it the physical eating of the body of Christ. This must be so, because the body of Christ is in heaven and therefore our participation in it can only be spiritual. Only the believers are the true partakers of the body and blood of Christ, for the unbelievers eat and drink no more than bread and wine—and condemnation upon themseves, for the profanation of the Lord's Table. These views are reflected in the Thirty-nine articles, of which the twenty-eighth says that "the Body of the Christ is given, taken, and eaten, in the Supper, only after an heavently and spiritual manner. The next article says of the wicked that "in no wise are they partakers of Christ," although "to their condemnation [they] do eat and rink the sign or Sacrament of so great a thing." This marked Calvinistic influence would prove very significant for the history of Christianity in England during the seventeenth century}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Bradshaw |first=Paul F. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/957998003 |title=The Eucharistic liturgies : their evolution and interpretation |date=2012 |others=Maxwell E. Johnson |isbn=978-0-8146-6266-3 |publisher = [[Liturgical Press]] |location=Collegeville, Minn. |oclc=957998003 |quote=The Catholic Mass expects God to work a transformation, a change of the elements of bread and wine into the very presence of Christ. The Anglican prayers do not demand this objective change in the elements: they ask merely that the bread and wine should now take on new significance for us, as symbols of His Body and Blood. In fact, the Anglican formulae will bear interpretation either way. This is a deliberate policy, and part of the genius of Anglicanism, its ability to accommodate contradictory doctrines under the same outward form of words.}}</ref>