Posted on 08/08/2012 6:04:01 AM PDT by NYer
.- The Archbishop of Melbourne denounced a local newspaper for its story about a breakaway group of “Inclusive Catholics,” led by a renegade priest who allegedly gave Holy Communion to a dog.
“That anyone would feed the Eucharist to a dog is an abomination,” Archbishop Denis J. Hart of Melbourne said in an Aug. 6 statement, issued by the archdiocese in response to a report the same day in The Age newspaper.
The paper, he said, had mocked Catholic beliefs by featuring the incident, which occurred at a service conducted by the “Inclusive Catholics” group. Its leader, Father Greg Reynolds, resigned from the Melbourne archdiocese in 2011 and does not have permission to offer Mass or serve as a priest.
“A first-time visitor arrived late at the Inclusive Catholics service in South Yarra with a large and well-trained German shepherd,” writer Barney Zwartz wrote in his account of the group's Aug. 5 service.
“When the consecrated bread and wine were passed around, the visitor took some bread and fed it to his dog,” Zwartz recounted. “Apart from one stifled gasp, those present showed admirable presence of mind – but the dog was not offered the cup!”
It is unclear, however, whether the “consecrated bread” consumed by the dog was in fact the Holy Eucharist.
The story mentioned that “a woman, Irene Wilson, led the liturgy,” while Fr. Reynolds “played as small a role as he could.” Given Fr. Reynolds' minimal participation in the lay-led service, the “consecrated bread” may not have received a valid Eucharistic consecration at all.
Whether or not the “Mass” was valid, Archbishop Hart told The Age that the events portrayed in the story were a source of grave offense for Catholics.
The article, he told the paper in a letter, was written “in bad faith,” with a tone that showed disrespect to “the most fundamental and defining belief” of the Catholic Church.
While the story acknowledged Fr. Reynolds' theological dissent and the “illicit” nature of the group's services, Archbishop Hart seemed displeased by Zwartz's attempts at cleverness – such as the lead paragraph's riff on the “Inclusive Catholics” welcoming “every man and his dog.”
“That you should choose to report the matter in the way that you did can only be understood as an attempt to hold Catholicism up to ridicule,” the Melbourne church leader wrote in his Aug. 6 letter to the editor of The Age.
“Your integrity in this matter can be judged by asking whether, if something sacred to Judaism or Islam had similarly been desecrated, you would have treated the matter with such flippancy.”
I attended a funeral last week at which one of the family members of the decedent sat with a dog in his lap. I don’t recall whether the owner received Communion, but the dog certainly didn’t!
The media always makes a big deal out of the wacky behaviors of non-Catholics calling themselves Catholic. And this from the same people who insist that Moslem murderers and rapists are not representative of their peace-loving community! Good for the archbishop for chewing them out over it.
Amen!
What you said!
I haven’t seen a dog but it seems everywhere I go to Mass I see people eating, drinking, chewing gum, balancing their checkbook etc. I don’t recall ever seeing this sort of thing even a few years ago but now I rarely go a week without seeing it.
Well if your priest won’t do anything about those things, contact the Bishop and if he doesn’t do anything, go to the Vatican.
I see people chewing gum, but only toddlers eating. And we in the choir have drinks of water.
I once gave a young boy in the row in front of me a tissue for his gum because it was time for Communion, with a kind comment, “Could you use this? I’m sure you’ll want to get rid of your gum before Communion!” My husband tried to stop me, but oh well.
This sacrilege isn't confined to the young either. I've caught several Knights of Columbus in their full costumes chewing gum like they were a cow chewing its cud. They were none too happy to be told to not receive. No excuse for that nonsense.
I hadn't thought of that. I think of gum as a piece of trash, rather than as a food product.
We had a priest (now retired) who would see things from the pulpit and mention them after Mass.
One was about chewing gum and a new Catholic (same RCIA class as mine) came up to me and said “he’s talking about me.” She never did it again. lol
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.