When the Priest Decided Which Parishioners Could Receive the Eucharist
Last week in Florida, a woman demanded Holy Communion from a 66 year old priest named Fr. Rodriguez. When he quietly informed her in that Communion line that she had to be a practicing Catholic, she grabbed numerous hosts (the body of Jesus Christ) in his ciborium. As she crushed them in her hand, he had no arms to push her away, so he lunged at her and bit her forearm to defend the Holy Eucharist. I do not believe he broke the skin, but it appears he was still charged by police. The question of a priest physically repelling a lay-assailant upon a ciborium or chalice is essentially [...]