Posted on 07/15/2008 9:51:46 AM PDT by OpusatFR
ORANGE COUNTY, FL -- A Catholic student group is facing hazing charges after a worshiper allegedly used force while trying to rescue a communion wafer from a student leader smuggling it out of Mass. Catholics consider the consecrated wafer, the Eucharist, among the most sacred objects in the world and believe it becomes the 'Body of Christ' through transubstantiation.
Student Government Senator Webster Cook filed the hazing charges with University of Central Florida administrators shortly after he admitted violating church rules by bringing the Eucharist home from Mass on June 29, then holding it hostage for one week in a plastic bag before returning it. (READ Incident Report Filed By UCF Student - PDF file)
Cook said his hazing complaint cited a UCF anti-hazing policy banning the forced consumption of any food in which the initiation or admission into or affiliation with a University of Central Florida organization may be directly or indirectly conditioned.
The rule, presumably, was intended to prevent fraternities from force-feeding pledges disgusting food, but Cook said the rule is clear and applies to all UCF clubs, including the Catholic Campus Ministries religious group. He insists the group is guilty because members ordered him to consume the Eucharist to remain at Mass.
The Diocese of Orlando declined to comment about the charges.
"Appropriate officials of the University of Central Florida are investigating the matter and due process is occurring," said a spokesperson.
Nearly two weeks after the incident, UCF spokesman Grant Heston confirmed the school was still reviewing the charges and had not yet decided whether they would be dismissed or brought through a formal trial conducted by administrators with UCF's Office of Student Conduct. Recent groups convicted of hazing charges at UCF were fraternities, which faced several years of suspension as punishment.
Cook also filed charges accusing the Catholic club of violating the school's underage alcohol policy by serving communal wine to underage students.
Previously, Diocese of Orlando Spokesperson Carol Brinati confirmed Catholic students filed charges of disruptive conduct with UCF administrators against Cook and a friend of his attending Mass with him on June 29 for their "disrespectful" behavior. Privacy laws prohibit UCF from discussing details of that case, but Cook's friend told Channel 9 he checked with school officials, who told him to expect his charges to move through the system soon.
Cook is also facing a more public set of charges filed by one of his peers in UCF's Student Government Association. SGA Officer Anthony Furbush filed an impeachment affidavit against Cook claiming Cook violated SGA ethics when he announced he was an SGA official during Mass and cited that reason, along with the fact Mass was held in a public campus hall, as why he didn't have to leave when asked.
Cook denied that allegation. Hearings on the impeachment charge could begin Wednesday. If convicted, Cook would be stripped of his SGA position.
SGA officials at UCF are responsible for allocating and overseeing a more than $13 million annual budget, which comes from student fees. The spots are coveted by students, with some candidates spending $10,000 in private funds to win elections for the highest positions in SGA.
The SGA impeachment, overseen by students, is separate from the pending Office of Student Conduct case overseen by UCF administrators. The administrative court could issue punishments ranging from probation to an outright expulsion from school.
Cook, who said he decided to return the Eucharist after receiving threats against his life and afterlife from angry Catholics, maintains he did nothing wrong and says he still deserves an apology for being "attacked" during Mass. Cook also denied he apologized for his actions, as UCF officials claimed he did in a statement.
However, Cook said he would be open to meeting with the student church members, who filed the disruptive conduct charges against him, in hopes of working out a deal for both sides to drop the charges before they end up in administrators' hands, where suspension and expulsion would be on the table.
Since Channel 9 broke the story it's grabbed national headlines. Paul Zachary Myers, an athiest college professor at the University of Minnesota Morris who saw the story, has since pledged to desecrate the Eucharist and post photographic evidence on the Internet in protest of Cook's treatment. The pledge attracted condemnation from the Catholic League, a Catholic civil rights group whose leader, Bill Donohue, suggested that UCF President John Hitt should expel Cook from school even after he returned the Eucharist.
Cook's friend, who asked to have his identied shielded out of fear, hopes the controversy will end soon.
"I think it has gotten way out of hand, and it's all based on a misunderstanding," he said.
this kid is incorrect. No one pushed him into the line to recieve Holy Communion.
You can go to Mass and not recieve the Eucharist. Technically, if you haven’t been to confession or if you are not a Catholic, you are not supposed to enter the Communion line.
But anyone is more than welcome to attend the mass and participate in the prayers and listen to the readings. Just not everyone is supposed to recieve the Eucharist.
Well hey hey...the alma mater gets some FReeper pub!
They should discipline this guy....it was disruptive and violated the rights of the Catholic group.
Fortunately my alma mater isnt as liberal fascist as most colleges....most colleges would have shut down the Catholic group and disbanded them
Sorry pal, actions have consequenses.
Firstly, receiving communion is purely voluntary. No one has to approach the altar if they do not desire to.
Second, after he had already voluntarily approached the altar, he was told by the Eucharistic minister that he could either eat the host or give it back but that he was not allowed to leave the building with it.
He then fled the building with it.
Misunerstanding? It was an intentional act done out of hate for a group based on their religion. This should be considered a hate crime, if the school or state has one.
UCF apparently has a president. Wonder what he thinks of this snotnosed sap and the trouble he has intentionally caused the institution. http://president.ucf.edu/
While Myers is indeed a very athy college professor and few athier ones can be found, I don't know if he is the athiest.
Cook said his hazing complaint cited a UCF anti-hazing policy banning the forced consumption of any food in which the initiation or admission into or affiliation with a University of Central Florida organization may be directly or indirectly conditioned.
The rule, presumably, was intended to prevent fraternities from force-feeding pledges disgusting food, but Cook said the rule is clear and applies to all UCF clubs, including the Catholic Campus Ministries religious group. He insists the group is guilty because members ordered him to consume the Eucharist to remain at Mass.
Ah, the insanity continues! I forget who taught me this rule, but it seems to apply here: "the first to take offense is usually the first to actually offend."
Can’t you just see the smirk on this twit’s face while he’s getting attention for his sophomoric, “notice me!” antics? Informal corporal punishment in order, perhaps?
Isn’t this a gay guy who has made it his life’s mission to punish the Church for refusing to bless his sexual misbehavior?
I guess that depends on you diocese. Anyone is welcome in the line for Holy Communion here. If you should not be receiving the Host--if you're too young, if you aren't a Catholic, if you're a Catholic who really needs to go to confession--you cross your arms over your chest and receive a blessing, but not the Host. I guess I can understand this not being encouraged in packed parishes with long lines, but let's face it--most of the time, that is not the case.
I think the catholic student group should file extortion charges against the little twit.
A Catholic is not to receive Communion if they are not in a state of grace or have not observed the one hour fast. IAW the Bishop's judgment non-Catholics are welcome to approach and receive a blessing but not the Eucharist just like the President and First Lady have done.
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