Liturgy expert: Worldwide spread of Novus Ordo has diminished belief in Real Presence 'I'm afraid it's impossible to deny the connection.' Would you say there is a connection between the postconciliar liturgy and the dwindling belief in transubstantiation? Yes, I’m afraid it’s impossible to deny the connection. The classical Roman rite as it developed over so many centuries acquired numerous and very expressive gestures of adoration and care toward the Holy Sacrament, precisely because it is not a mere “thing,” but under the signs of bread and wine a divine Person is really present. How we treat Him is how...