Amid controversy over US bishops’ plans to deny Communion to pro-abortion rights Catholics, a scholar of sacramental theology explains the importance of the ritual to members of the church

One of the seven sacraments of the Catholic Church, the Eucharist is a ritual in which, according to Catholic theology, bread and wine blessed by a priest really become the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ. Such is its central role in Catholicism, it has been called the fount and apex of the whole Christian life.