Jesus Thirsts is the brainchild of Deacon Steve Greco, founder and president of Spirit Filled Hearts Ministry and director of evangelization and faith formation of the Diocese of Orange, California. Indeed, Bishop Kevin Vann of Orange introduces the film with a short video message. Jesus Thirsts comes in the aftermath of Deacon Greco’s national and global movement Jesus Thirsts for America, which sought to motivate and inspire the faithful to rediscover the Eucharist.
The 90-minute documentary attempts to position itself as a bulwark against disbelief in the Eucharist among Catholics and the wider secular culture. An early vignette in the film references the 2019 Pew Research survey that found only one-third of U.S. Catholics believe in transubstantiation. Interviewee Marian Father Donald Calloway recalled his shock at the survey, and the film includes footage of concerned bishops discussing the matter at a bishops’ conference meeting. The bishops’ conference approved a document, “The Mystery of the Eucharist in the Life of the Church,” in November 2021.
