Posted on 07/09/2009 8:31:24 AM PDT by NYer
A senior New Brunswick Roman Catholic priest is demanding the Prime Minister's Office explain what happened to the sacramental communion wafer Stephen Harper was given at Roméo LeBlanc's funeral mass.
During communion at the solemn and dignified service held last Friday in Memramcook for the former governor general, the prime minister slipped the thin wafer that Catholics call "the host" into his jacket pocket.
In Catholic understanding, the host - once consecrated by a priest for the Eucharist - becomes the body and blood of Jesus Christ. It is crucial that the small wafer be consumed when it is received.
Monsignor Brian Henneberry, vicar general and chancellor in the Diocese of Saint John, wants to know whether the prime minister consumed the host and, if not, what happened to it.
If Harper accepted the host but did not consume it, "it's worse than a faux pas, it's a scandal from the Catholic point of view," he said.
Henneberry said a statement from the Prime Minister's Office is in order.
"If I were the prime minister, I would at least offer an explanation to say no offence was meant, and then (clarifying) what happened to the consecrated host is in order," he said. "I would hope the Prime Minister's Office would have enough respect for the Catholic Church and for faith in general to make clear whatever happened."
On Friday, during the mass, Harper reached out with his right hand and accepted the wafer from a priest.
A television camera lingered long enough to show New Brunswick Lt.-Gov. Herménégilde Chiasson, the next person to receive the host, raise his to his mouth.
But the tape shows that Harper does not consume the wafer before the camera cuts away several seconds later.
If Harper was unclear about what was appropriate during the funeral mass, said Henneberry, it "would say to me it's time to get new protocol people."
Harper and his senior spokespersons were en route to Italy on Tuesday for the G8 leaders' summit.
Harper will spend five days in Italy and on Saturday he has an audience with Pope Benedict.
Requests for comment left with Harper's media office were not immediately returned on Tuesday.
What Harper did or didn't do at the ceremony quietly raised questions at the ceremony in Memramcook Friday.
When Harper took the host, "everybody just paused and said, 'What did he do with it?'"‚" said one official who watched the pool feed with reporters who were not inside St. Thomas Church in Memramcook.
"You could see he was, 'Uh oh, I don't know what to do with this.'"‚"
The curiosity among Catholics has not gone unnoticed among Liberal insiders in Ottawa, either.
Henneberry said he has received a call on Harper's actions from a concerned Catholic, and he doubts that she is the only one puzzled and perturbed.
"She said she was very upset," he said, adding he had not seen the footage.
"She said, 'All weekend long it has been bothering me and I know I can't do something about it, but someone should.'
"She can't be the only one in this country that is thinking that."
Harper's religious affiliation raises a separate but related question about his accepting the host: As a Protestant, should he have politely declined it?
The fact it was a national event that was televised live likely complicated the situation for everyone - the priests and Harper, Henneberry said.
"If the prime minister is not a Catholic, he should not have been receiving communion and if he comes up it places the priest in an awkward position, especially at a national funeral because everyone is watching," he said.
But Rev. Arthur Bourgeois, who delivered the homily, did not have a problem with the prime minister accepting the host.
"Usually, to partake in holy communion in the Catholic Church, you have to be a member of it, but if you're not, exceptionally sometimes at major occasions (it is different)," Bourgeois said.
"If you are up there and giving holy communion you are not going to stop and asked everyone if they are Catholic or if they are not Catholic.
"You say the Lord provides."
Monsignor André Richard, who is Bishop of the Diocese of Moncton, gave Harper communion but said he didn't see what Harper did with the host.
"I didn't see anything wrong there "¦ because I was busy doing something else."
Bourgeois said it is acceptable to decline the host by simply folding one's hands, which signals the priest to bless the person.
Rev. James Weisgerber, president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops and archbishop of Winnipeg, said if Harper was not given good advice before the ceremony about what to do, it is a regrettable oversight.
"I would feel very sorry for the prime minister if he wasn't informed about what the procedure is," Weisgerber said. "I would find it terrible if we put him in an embarrassing situation.
"My concern is at a funeral of that level everyone knows what the protocol is."
Harper could have simply consumed the host shortly after he was off-camera; or he could have hesitated because he expected a priest would soon invite everyone to consume the host once everyone present had received it, as occurs in some Protestant churches.
His own faith tradition certainly does things differently, says an evangelical Christian journalist who specializes in religion and politics.
Lloyd Mackey's 2005 book The Pilgrimage of Stephen Harper traces Harper's political and faith journey.
Given his church background, Harper might not have known exactly what was expected of him as a Protestant at a Roman Catholic mass, Mackey suggested.
"I don't think by himself as a Protestant adherent he'd be aware of the nuances," said Mackey, who added there would be people in his inner circle who should have advised him.
For a number of years, in Calgary and in Ottawa, Harper has worshipped at churches within the Christian and Missionary Alliance, said Mackey.
Communion in Alliance churches is typically held once a month.
It would involve the seated congregation passing along wafers and, in small individual glasses, unfermented grape juice.
Harper grew up in a background with United Church of Canada and Presbyterian influences, but he was something of a skeptic until he was a young adult.
Mackey's book says Harper's journey to a committed personal faith was influenced by fellow politician Preston Manning, among others, and came after reading much-admired Christian apologists C.S. Lewis and Malcolm Muggeridge.
LeBlanc, 81, died in late June. He had been the country's first Acadian and Maritime governor general, and before that, a senator, MP and press secretary to two prime ministers.
The priest who gave Clinton communion was a maverick.
This line appears in the article, but nowhere in the article does anybody say this is what happened, and in fact everybody quoted says they never saw what he did with the wafer, because most of them were watching it later on TV and the TV cut away from him after a few seconds.
So for all everybody knows, he just partook of the wafer a bit late.
I don't think a protestant is supposed to be taking the wafer at a Catholic church, but Protestants tend to be inclusive about communion with other churches. Interestingly though, his Protestant church may think this was as much of an error as the Catholic church.
I took communion at a Catholic church once, at college, with my now-wife, because I had no idea they were not inclusive of all Christians. Of course, my "first communion" wasn't in my own church, it was in a Methodist church where I was a boy scout, on Boy Scout sunday. I just followed everybody else and did the communion thing -- even though I wasn't a communicant at my Lutheran church yet.
Most Catholic churches have announcements in the bulletin about protocol for communion. Someone should have clued Harper, although it is hard to believe he was that clueless. I certainly would not communicate in a Baptist church.
Two thoughts:
Many folks are ignorant regarding consumption, my sister was with a non-Catholic friend and my sister’s wedding and the Priest (my Uncle)didn’t give instruction beforehand and the friend had never been to a Catholic Church. To her credit my sister took the host from him and consumed it.
Secondly, time to do away with Communion in the hand.
If a church has a procedure for non-members to follow, they aught to mention it at the church service, since the non-members would otherwise have no reason to know what they are supposed to do, and are much more likely to just do what everybody else is doing.
In our church, during communion, our pastor specifically explains the rite, and who is supposed to participate and who should not. He does this EVERY communion service. So there is no confusion for non-members as to whether they can receive communion or not.
He also explains each time which cups have real wine, and which are the grape juice. For some odd reason, we use white grape juice and a dark red wine, which means the visual cues are not quite what you'd expect.
Taking communion is pretty much a sign of membership. I understand that some Baptists don’t let anyone communicate without a letter. In any case, whether Protestant or Catholic, the responsibility of the person is not to take it unworthily.
Yes, that's true, we do.
The reason being because the “priest” does not have the power to change the bread and wine into the body and blodd of Christ.
I don't follow your reasoning. Yes, we do believe it is the very body of Christ. But the reason is not because of any power in the priest per se. The power is in Christ's Word, which makes it so.
It was a state funeral, and he was there for that reason. Maybe he was unaware that they would do communion at a funeral, and then he just did what every other person in his row did, because he wasn’t told to do anything different.
I think that is a sound and reasonable way to handle it. If it is important to a faith that the host be consumed immediately, the Priest who gives the host should take the time to ensure the procedure is followed.
Communion in a Catholic Church is at every mass, not occasionally as in most churches. However at a funeral mass, it is wise to inform those attending since non-Catholics are commonly attendant in significant numbers. .
I think that this being a funeral, not a sunday worship service, may have complicated and confused matters.
It seems to me that the truly responsible party here is the priest who gave Harper communion. As the priest, it is his obligation and duty to protect the Holy Gifts from unworthy consumption. He didn’t do that.
All of this could have been avoided by a simple announcement before communion that the Holy Mystery is reserved to Catholics in good standing who are living their lives in accordance with the rules of The Church and who are properly prepared. Our priest does that every Sunday and it has prevented all sorts of embarassment.
Just when you thought you heard it all. What could the possible explanation be and will he bother to supply one.
You are exactly right.
A little guidance from the PM’s protocol folks (who obviously did not do their homework) could also have avoided this incident.
However, the responsibility, as you have said, clearly rests with the Catholic clergy in charge of the funeral.
The wise comment of the day.
Monsignor André Richard, who is Bishop of the Diocese of Moncton, gave Harper communion but said he didn't see what Harper did with the host.
"I didn't see anything wrong there "¦ because I was busy doing something else."
Excuse me, lame duck. You were busy doing something else while giving out communion to a known non-catholic statesman? Now you have compounded your sin even more.
The catholic church in Canada has gone to the dogs long ago.
Back in 1969, when Quebec was a “catholic province”, with 99% population as baptised catholics. It was the first province to decriminalize abortion, thanks to then solicitor general Pierre Trudeau, later the Prime Minister.
Even earlier, Bishops of Canada, on Sept. 27, 1968, issued the Winnipeg Statement, leading defiance and sowing confusion over the Papal Encyclical “Humanae Vitae”.
IIRC, Clinton received the Eucharist from the Bishop or Archbishop of Little Rock. That hierarch may be a maverick but he was not J. Random Rebel Priest. This is yet another example of why Catholics and especially Catholic bishops should stand ever vigilant to shun misbehaving bishops who would give the Eucharist to public pro-abort political hacks, even those who falsely claim Catholicism as public officials while actively conniving in the murder of 50+ million innocent babies.
Robbie, you are a Catholic and a good one. You are qualified to observe on in-house Catholic issues. Those who are not Catholic are entitled to express their opinions but those outside the Faith are not very qualified critics of an institution not their own.
May Blessed Alois Cardinal Stepinac effect the genuine enlightenment of those opposed to our Roman Catholic Church.
The incident I was familiar with was what happened in South Africa. In any case, since Vatican II, many priests and bishops have been careless, so determined were they to preach ecumenism—as they understood it. One story that sticks in my mind is the effort by a priest to FORCE a black musician who was entertaining at a mass, to take communion, and the black man quite rightly refusing. He knew what HE was even if the priest did not.
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