Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke has explained the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, the necessity of the priesthood, and the reality of the battle against the devil in the second part of his interview with Shawn Ryan, published this Thursday, September 10. When asked directly whether the Eucharist is merely a symbol, the cardinal answered without qualification: “It is the Body and Blood of Christ.”
The episode, dedicated to the New Testament, continues the conversation published this week on The Shawn Ryan Show, one of the most widely listened-to interview podcasts in the United States. Burke used Ryan’s questions to present some of the central teachings of the Catholic faith in a straightforward manner, and when addressing spiritual warfare, he stated that there is currently “a great deal of demonic activity,” an impression he attributed to his conversations with fellow bishops and exorcist priests.
“It is the Body and Blood of Christ”
Speaking about the Last Supper, Burke recalled Christ’s words over the bread and wine—“This is my Body” and “This is the chalice of my Blood”—and explained that Christ sacramentally anticipated the sacrifice He would consummate on Calvary. The Eucharist thus allows us to receive Christ “Body, Blood, soul, and divinity.”
Ryan then asked whether Catholics regard the Eucharist as a symbol or as the true Body and Blood of Christ. “It is the Body and Blood of Christ. It is the Body and Blood of Christ,” Burke insisted.
The cardinal also explained transubstantiation: although the appearances of bread remain, “the very substance of the bread is changed into the Body of Christ.” From this, he added, comes the Church’s reverence for the consecrated species and Eucharistic adoration outside of Mass.
Burke likewise linked the Eucharist directly to the priesthood. Christ not only told the Apostles, “Do this in memory of me,” but also willed to leave ministers who would continue offering the Eucharist “until the last day” to nourish the faithful with His Body and Blood.
For this reason, he rejected the idea that a community could replace the priest in celebrating the Eucharist. “Christ willed it to be this way: that there be a consecrated man who offers the Holy Eucharist for us,” he stated. “The Holy Eucharist and the priesthood are inseparably united.”
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“There is a great deal of demonic activity”
Another of the episode’s most striking moments came when Ryan asked how an ordinary person can combat demons.
“Only in Christ,” Burke replied. “Only Christ has the power to repel demons, to cast them out, to drive them away from us.”
Exorcisms, he noted, are also performed in the name of Christ. “The priest never says: ‘I.’ No. It is Christ who casts out the demons.” He therefore warned against any attempt to turn spiritual warfare into a struggle based on one’s own abilities: “If we try to fight the devil on our own, we will be defeated.”
Ryan asked whether he frequently encounters cases related to demonic activity. “More than I would like,” the cardinal answered.
“It seems that in the present time—and I know this from speaking with brother bishops and with exorcists—there is a great deal of demonic activity,” he added.
Burke nevertheless warned against the idea that Christ’s victory has rendered Satan a reality we no longer need to worry about. “Satan is never happier than when we think he is not there, because then he can really do harm,” he stated.
He also maintained that this reality calls for discernment even within the Church itself: “Sadly, in today’s world, and even sometimes in the Church, we see things that are diabolical and so evil that they could only come from the evil one himself.”
In response, Burke pointed to prayer and the sacramental life: “If we pray, if we strengthen ourselves with the sacraments, if we take every precaution against the evil one, we can be sure that Our Lord will not allow him to have power over us.”
The Rosary as an “evangelical prayer”
The cardinal also mentioned Saint Michael the Archangel, Saint Joseph—“terror of the demons”—and the Virgin Mary as intercessors in spiritual warfare. “These are ways in which we arm ourselves,” he noted.
Ryan then asked him to explain how someone who had never prayed the Rosary could begin. Burke described it as “an evangelical prayer” and recalled that the opening words of the Hail Mary come from Scripture: from the greeting of the Archangel Gabriel and from the words of Saint Elizabeth.
The Rosary, he explained, unites those prayers with the contemplation of the mysteries of the life of Christ and of the Virgin. In addition, the beads help maintain attention while praying and meditating on the mysteries.
Burke also dwelt on the Resurrection of Christ, presenting it as a historical event supported by the testimony of the four Gospels, the empty tomb, the appearances of the Risen One, and the transformation of the Apostles. Likewise, when explaining the relationship between the Old and New Testaments, he insisted that Christ did not come to abolish the Old Covenant but to bring it to fulfillment.
Regarding the Virgin, the cardinal presented her as the “new Eve” alongside Christ, the “new Adam.” Mary, Burke affirmed, “restores the dignity of woman” and returns her “to her place in God’s plan.”