I’m so sorry you were hurt Kimberley. Typically, especially at a funeral or wedding when people from many faiths and beliefs are present, priests are supposed to say something like “The Catholic Church believes that the Eucharist is the real presence and living Body, Soul and Divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ” (not just a symbol of Jesus).

Thy typically offer non-Catholics or Catholics who are unprepared (people who haven’t been to confession in more than a year) a blessing as an alternative to receiving Jesus.

I worked at a high school where a few students preferred the blessing over receiving the Eucharist (even though the Eucharist is definitely better). Because, as you note, you were already baptized Catholic, going to confession is the easiest and quickest way to prepare. Why does the rule exist? It's in the Catechism of the Catholic Church and based on the Bible:

"To respond to this invitation we must prepare ourselves for so great and so holy a moment. St. Paul urges us to examine our conscience: "Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself." Anyone conscious of a grave sin must receive the sacrament of Reconciliation before coming to communion." (CCC 1385)

That's also why the Catechism says Catholics should go to confession at least once a year and receive the Eucharist at Mass at least once a year.

Peter Kreeft further explains the rule by noting that to unite yourself physically with another living soul (take this all of you for this is my body) is an extremely sacred and holy act. The only other times one living person is fully alive in another (pregnancy and marital acts) are similarly considered sacred ways to unite so the Catholics ask you to prepare for these through the Sacrament of Matrimony.

That's one of the reasons little girls wear white dresses to their first communion while boys also dress in nice suits (because it's part of the Church becoming the bride to Christ).

The poll you cite (from Pew in 2019) is a great concern because the Catholic Church teaches the Eucharist is the "source and summit" of Christianity and it was one of the reasons for 2024 being the year of a National Eucharistic Conference (the first in many decades) to help Catholics know about the Real Presence.

Heavenly Father: Thank you for the gift of Kimberley and her great faith -- we know she loves you with all her heart. And she is a good and faithful servant we love as a sister in Christ. May she always feel your presence and know you are above her as the Father, beside her as Jesus, and within her through the Holy Spirit through the unity of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.