Origin of the Eucharist the "Didache", "1 Clement" and Ignatius of Antioch provide glimpses of what Christians were doing in their eucharists. Later sources, Tertullian and the "Apostolic Tradition", offer some details from around the year 200. Once the Church "went public" after the conversion of Constantine the Great in the second decade of the fourth century, it was clear that the Eucharist was established as a central part of Christian life. Contemporary scholars debate whether Jesus meant to institute a ritual at his Last Supper; whether the Last Supper was an actual historical event in any way related to the undisputed early "Lord's
Eucharist in the Catholic Church into the body and blood of Christ is called "μετουσίωσις". The doctrine of transubstantiation is thus independent of Aristotelian philosophical concepts, and these were not and are not dogmata of the Church. The only minister of the Eucharist (someone who can consecrate the Eucharist) is a validly ordained priest (bishop or presbyter). He acts in the person of Christ, representing Christ, who is the Head of the Church, and also acts before God in the name of the Church. Several priests may concelebrate the same offering of the Eucharist. Others, who are not priests, may act as extraordinary Ministers of