...”They didn’t have to rely on transubstantiation to get a “sacrifice.”.....
Well this stuff is hocus pocus and certainly a history of like it in the pagan world.
Can hardly believe how much of catholicism is so wrapped up in ritual and pomp to hide what’s really going on. It’s thick and ment to be so.
I visited 1st Baptist Church, downtown Houston, whenever visiting from Del Rio. We went to Houston, to see football or baseball games at the Astrodome, but the pastor, a former catholic, like me, put it well. He said the less light there is in a religion, the more lights it must have, such as the ritual and pomp you describe, in order to keep even a semblance of credibility. Of course, the RCC has no credibility with me, but I think he hit it out of the park.