The Irish Times recently asked how people answered the most important beliefs on being a Catholic.

Here are the questions. Write your own answers.

1. You believe that Jesus, as the son of God, rose from the dead.

2. You attend church once a week and perform the sacraments.

3. Your belief in the “Virgin Birth” is coupled with a deep adoration for Mary as the mother of God.

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4. You accept the “Magisterium”, or teaching authority, of the church, as embodied in its bishops and Pope.

5. You believe the Eucharist contains the “real presence” of Jesus Christ as brought about by transubstantiation, or the changing of bread and wine into body and blood.

The Irish responders believed in statements one through three, four was more difficult for them while five had a yawning generation gap with those under 45 far less likely to believe it as the blood and body of Jesus Christ than those over 45.

Personally I agree with the the Times writer that “do you believe in the resurrection?” should have been included. Without the Resurrection, as Archbishop Rowan Williams has stated “Christianity is a sham.“

How do you fare?