Bits and Bites > Priest Bites woman during Holy Communion

 

Florida priest bites woman during altercation over Holy Communion

By Sarah Do Couto  Global News

Posted May 24, 2024 11:39 am

 3 min read

A Florida priest may face criminal battery charges after he bit a woman during an altercation over Holy Communion at a Sunday mass.

The Diocese of Orlando told ABC News the incident occurred at St. Thomas Aquinas Church in St. Cloud, Fla. on May 19 while Father Fidel Rodriguez was leading a service.

The religious authority said an unnamed woman attended the church’s 10 a.m. mass and joined the congregation’s line to receive Holy Communion. Rodriguez said he did not know the woman.

Church officials alleged the woman “appeared unaware of the proper procedure,” and was told by Father Rodriguez to receive the Sacrament of Penance (also called confession) before she can receive the Eucharist, as is commonly encouraged.

Rodriguez gave the woman a blessing.

She returned for the church’s 12 p.m. mass and again attempted to receive Holy Communion.

When Rodriguez asked the woman if she’d been to confession, the Diocese alleged she responded that it was “not his business.”

“Father Rodriguez offered the woman Holy Communion on the tongue,” the Diocese claimed. “At that point, the woman forcefully placed her hand in the vessel and grabbed some sacred Communion hosts, crushing them.”

Rodriguez allegedly tried to restrain the woman with his free hand. The Diocese said she then pushed Rodriguez.

Believing that he was responding to a “perceived act of aggression,” Rodriguez bit her hand in an attempt to get her to release the Communion hosts, church officials said.

The woman was then asked to leave the church. She later reported the incident to police and said the priest had been forceful in placing the Eucharist on her tongue.

Police told local news station WDBO they’ve recommended the priest be charged with battery. There have yet to be any charges.

The news outlet obtained police body camera footage from the investigation, which featured a live-streamed recording of the incident. In the video, the woman and the priest are seen engaged in a brief scuffle.

The woman can also be heard calling the Eucharist “a cookie” while speaking to police. She said the priest may have refused to give her Holy Communion because of her “sexuality” or how she was dressed. (The woman was wearing a white button up shirt and black trousers. She did not identify her sexuality.)

Rodriguez told police he did not know the woman and does not care about her sexuality. He maintains he was protecting the sanctity of the Eucharist. He did not deny biting the woman.

“While the Diocese of Orlando does not condone physical altercations such as this, in good faith, Father Rodriguez was simply attempting to prevent an act of desecration of the Holy Communion, which, as a priest, Father Rodriguez is bound by duty to protect,” church officials said. “The Diocese of Orlando believes all people of all faiths should be respected and that their religious ceremonies or services should never be disrupted.”

“The priest was trying to protect the Holy Communion from this sacrilegious act,” the Diocese continued. “In the Catholic Tradition, the Eucharist is considered ‘the source and summit’ of worship and faith. The act of participation in Holy Communion therefore calls for a proper understanding, reverence, and devotion. It is not something a person can arbitrarily demand and is certainly not a mere ‘cookie’ as the complainant called it.”

Today's Terror Attack in Europe - France, Again

#JeSuisPrêtre: Twitter lights up in prayer for priest murdered in Normandy

Another, in a string of terror attacks in Europe! This is the 6th attack between Germany and France 

in less than two weeks. All of them committed by Muslim men, at least half by migrants.

Welcome to the new Europe, enriched by embracing the Religion of Peace.

This picture obtained on the website of the Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray parish on July 26, 2016 shows late priest Jacques Hamel celebrating a mass on June 11, 2016 in the church of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, Normandy © HO / AFP

Social media users, including clergymen, are taking to Twitter to pray for the Catholic priest killed in a suspected terror attack in northern France Tuesday.

The hashtag #JeSuisPrêtre (I am priest) is being used to condemn the ongoing violence and pay respect to the priest who reportedly had his throat slit by two men who held five hostages in a church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray.

Fellow clergymen have also paid respect to the 84-year-old priest,  Father Jacques Hamel, murdered in the attack.

This priest based in Paris, urged people to pray for the victims and killer and not seek vengeance.

Father Hamel’s death was confirmed by the Archbishop of Rouen, Dominique Lebrun, in a statement as he urged people to pray for the victims and “not give into violence”.

Father Hamel has been described by members of the community as a warm and peaceful man.

Claude-Albert Seguin, a 68-year-old pensioner, told The Associated Press that “everyone knew him very well. He was very loved in the community and a kind man.''

Mohammed Karabila, president of the Regional Muslim Council of Normandy, told The Local he was “distressed at the death of his friend.”

“Our religious communities always worked together,” he said. “For the past 18 months, and the beginning of the attacks in France, we had meetings in the interfaith committee, and we communicated a lot.”

Father Hamel was awarded a Golden Jubilee for serving 50 years in the priesthood in 2008. At the time of the attack, he had been filling in for another priest, Auguste Moanda-Phuati, who has been the parish priest for the past five years.

"I could not possibly imagine that such a thing would happen to us," Moanda-Phuati said.

The two assailants were shot dead by police and another hostage is reported to be in a serious condition.

Prime Minister Manuel Valls took to Twitter to brand the attack as "barbaric", saying the Catholic community and France as a whole is hurting.

President  François Hollande has confirmed the incident as a terror attack at a press conference in Seine Maritime.

"We are facing a group - Daesh [IS] - who have declared war and we have to fight this war using all means possible,” he said.

IS, themselves, have also claimed responsibility for the attack.

String of attacks

The Ansbach bombing is the fourth attack in southern Germany -- and the third in the state of Bavaria -- in recent days, which also came on the heels of the Bastille Day ISIS attack in Nice, France, that killed 84 people.

A police officer stands guard in Ansbach. 

Speaking at a press conference Monday, Hermann acknowledged it had been a "very terrible week" in Bavaria.

"Yes, this was also for me personally a very terrible week, as I think it was for most of the people in Bavaria. The attack last Monday on the train in Wurzburg, then the rampage ... in Munich Friday night, and now again an attack."

The stabbing attack in Wurzburg, which authorities said appeared motivated by ISIS propaganda, has left four people hospitalized, including one in an induced coma, medical officials said.

The Munich shooting spree was carried out by an 18-year-old German-Iranian with dual nationality, who killed nine people before killing himself in a shopping district.

Police said the gunman was a mentally troubled individual who was obsessed with mass shootings and may have planned the attack for a year. Authorities have not found a link to terror groups.

And on Sunday, hours before the Ansbach attack, a 21-year-old Syrian refugee killed a Polish woman with a machete in the city of Reutlingen.

Germans were shocked by sexual assaults of women blamed on immigrants at New Year's Eve festivities in Cologne and other cities, and three Syrian men were arrested last month on suspicions they were planning to carry out a mass casualty attack in Dusseldorf.

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Answered Prayer, Angels, Miracles - ABC's Dianne Sawyer

The following video from ABC News' Dianne Sawyer begs the questions, 'are there angels among us'? Does prayer really work?

Decide for yourself...

Katie's miracle.

Snopes: No Angel! Priest found.

Origins:   On the morning of 11 August 2013, the vehicle bearing 19-year-old Katie Lentz of New London, Missouri, collided with another, crushing the young woman's car and trapping her inside the upturned wreckage. When it proved impossible to extricate the injured teen while the car was in that position, the decision was made to flip the vehicle back onto its tires, although such movement could dramatically change the pressure on her body and put her further at risk. 

Lentz called for someone to pray for her first. Seemingly out of nowhere, a priest no one at the accident scene recognized appeared and began ministering to the stricken girl. Those struggling to free the girl said the mysterious priest told them to be calm and their tools would now work. 

After praying with her, absolving her of her sins and anointing her, the priest slipped away unnoticed. Lentz was subsequently freed from what little remained of her car and transported by helicopter to the nearest trauma center. 

Photographs taken at the scene that morning failed to display the mysterious priest — in none of the nearly 70 of them did the man appear. Moreover, no one present had recognized him, which was highly unusual given that there was only one Catholic church within three towns, and the unknown man was not its pastor. 

It appeared a grievously injured teen's pleas for spiritual succor had been answered by an angel guised as a priest. 

The mystery was resolved within a few days. The mysterious stranger was in fact a Catholic priest, the Rev. Patrick Dowling. A priest since 1982, Dowling works in prison ministry and with Spanish-speaking parishioners, which accounts for no one present at the accident scene having recognized him. As to how he came to be there, he was returning from Ewing, Missouri, where he had celebrated Mass at a local church because that parish's regular priest had been ill. That no one saw him come or go was likely explained by his having parked his car behind a large vehicle about 150 yards from where Katie Lentz lay trapped. 

Charges are pending against the driver of the other vehicle, and Katie Lentz is on the mend despite suffering two broken femurs, a broken tibia and fibula, broken left wrist, nine broken ribs, a lacerated liver, ruptured spleen and bruised lung. 

Cultural Suicide War Heats Up in the Vatican

France stands firm over nomination of gay Vatican envoy

From BBC Europe

Faithful stand in front St Peter"s basilica during the Easter Holy Mass
on 8 April 2012 at St Peter's square at The Vatican

Three months after France proposed Mr Stefanini as ambassador, the Vatican remains silent.

France has said it will not back down over its nomination of an openly gay ambassador to the Vatican.

The French government proposed senior diplomat Laurent Stefanini for the post in January but the Vatican is yet to respond to approve the choice.

The Vatican usually responds within six weeks to approve such a new ambassador.

The nomination of Mr Stefanini was seen as a litmus test for Pope Francis, who has taken a more liberal stance on homosexuality.

A French government spokesman said there had been negotiations with the Vatican over the appointment.

"France has chosen its ambassador to the Vatican. This choice was Stefanini and that remains the French proposal," said spokesman Stephane Le Foll.

Observers say most Vatican appointments are confirmed within six weeks and that this long silence should be read as a rejection.

The Vatican traditionally makes no statement if it intends to decline a nomination.

I can understand why the Vatican might not want a gay man in the 'Holy See', but it seems incredibly hypocritical in view of the thousands of gay, pedophile priests within the Catholic Church.

Mr Stefanini served in the Holy See as a deputy ambassador in the French embassy from 2001 to 2005.

He was described by the country's foreign ministry as "one of our best diplomats".

France legalised same-sex marriage in 2013, despite opposition from the Catholic Church.

Pope Francis is regarded as more tolerant of homosexuality than previous popes. "Who am I to judge?", he said in 2013.

"Who am I to judge?" Are you not 'the Vicar of Christ'? Are you not an authority on scriptures? The purpose of man and the destiny of Christians is 'oneness' with Jesus Christ (cf John 17:22,23,26). As such, the head of the Catholic church must be well advanced in that journey to 'oneness' and 'perfection' in Jesus Christ. Consequently, he should have the 'mind of Christ' in most matters, particularly very important matters. 

The 'mind of Christ' does not change with fashions or fads. It was the pre-incarnate Christ Who destroyed Sodom, Gomorrah and it's satellite cities. It was the 'Holy Spirit' Who inspired Paul to declare homosexuality unnatural and an abomination (cf Romans 1:24-32). The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Father and the Son, Who are 'one'.

Romans 1:24-32 describe those who have been given over to their 'vile passions' and 'a debased mind', homosexuality being one of those passions. But Romans 1:32 makes this remarkable statement about those vile, debased people, 'who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them' (NKJV).

So, even the rebellious who reject God know 'the righteous judgment of God'. So how can it be that the 'vicar of Christ' does not know 'the righteous judgment of God'?

3 Catholic Churches Burnt in Melbourne Easter Weekend

Churches with histories of pedophilia torched

to the delight of even some Catholics

St James Catholic Church North Road, East Brighton was gutted.
Pic: Nicole Garmston

Father Kevin O'Donnell molested children at St Mary’s church, Dandenong, which was set alight overnight.

THREE Catholic churches set alight in Melbourne in as many days were for decades the scenes of horrific sexual abuse inflicted on scores of children by notorious paedophile priests.

Police are investigating the cause of the string of suspicious blazes at buildings of worship as neighbouring churches increase security.

Early yesterday, emergency crews rushed to extinguish a blaze at St Mary’s in Dandenong a fire was lit on the church’s alter and another in the storeroom of the 151-year-old building.

The blaze is the third to be investigated at a historic Melbourne church in as many days, with St Mary’s Church in St Kilda East and St James’s Church in Brighton each gutted by flames after being set alight in the early hours of Monday morning.

Links to paedophiles at each of the Catholic churches have sparked suspicion of revenge attacks.

The Dandenong church, which sustained $250,000 worth of damages after firefighters battled for 90 minutes to extinguish the fire this morning, was presided over by convicted paedophile priest Kevin O’Donnell from 1958 to 1986.

O’Donnell found his first victim at the church, a 15-year-old altar boy, when he started at the age of 41 — the historic building the scene of the crime.

John Kevin O'Donnell Catholic priest plead guilty to sexually molesting children

The priest sexually molested the boy, and went on to abuse the teenager’s brother, sister, friends and scores of other children, Fairfax reports.

Among O’Donnell’s victims were boys and girls as young as five, and he was not convicted until 1995, years after he retired.

The then 78-year-old retired priest was convicted of indecently assaulting 10 boys and two girls under the age of 16. After spending 15 months in jail he was freed in 1996 and died the following year.

A Melbourne bishop has hit back at claims the third suspicious church fire is linked to clergy sexual abuse.

Bishop Peter Elliott told 3AW the church didn’t believe the fires were linked, or started by someone who had been sexually abused by priests.

He said they were probably started by someone with a “disturbed mind”.

Most sexually abused children grow up with 'disturbed minds'. You should know that!

Earlier in the week, actor Rachel Griffiths expressed “great relief” at the suspected arson attack on St James Church in Brighton, a known crime scene for sexual abuse for many years.

The heritage-listed building was once home to notorious priest Father Ronald Pickering, a now deceased priest who was never convicted of sex offences, but was found to have abused children at a 2013 Victorian government inquiry.

St James Catholic Church North Road, East Brighton was gutted.
Pic: Nicole Garmston

“I was quite elated, like many of my generation, when I heard the news this morning,” said Six Feet Under star Rachel Griffiths on Monday.

“It’s always been difficult for us to drive past because there’s been so much tragedy and complicated feeling, I guess.

“We’ve all attended many funerals of boys that we now know were abused by [Father Ronald] Pickering … at the actual church that it occurred in.”

The actor, a practising Catholic, said she and friends had “avoided being married there” and saw the church as “a bit of a thorn”.

At least five Melbourne men and women were found to have killed themselves after suffering abuse by Pickering between 1960 and 1980, according to research carried out in 2012.

Though he was never brought to trial over his offences before he died in 2009, the Catholic Church admitted he was guilty of sexual abuse.

St Mary's East St Kilda, where Pickering is believed to have carried out abuse.
Picture: Yuri Kouzmin

One of Pickering’s victims told the Victorian government inquiry of the abuse he suffered as an altar boy between the ages of nine and 13.

“He groomed me by giving me cigarettes, money and alcohol,” he said.

“Over this four-year period (1979 — 1983) I am aware that two other boys were also sexually abused by Father Ronald Pickering.

“I was regularly fondled and petted by Pickering.”

St Mary's Church in East St Kilda,
fire bombed  on the same day that
 St James church was destroyed
Pic: Yuri Kouzmin

The victim also told the inquiry another boy Pickering had abused died after the priest gave him money for heroin.

He told the inquiry in his statement he had attempted suicide at the age of 16, and told of other boys’ experiences who were abused by Pickering.

“I now have several vivid memories of the sexual abuses, as well as some vague flashes due to the state of intoxication,” he said.

“One night after one of the boys paid a visit to Pickering, he attempted suicide. He was unsuccessful on this attempt, but he would go on to successfully commit suicide a short time later.”

The royal commission into sex abuse has highlighted extensive abuse and cover-up by the Catholic Church in Australia.

Catholic churches in Melbourne are increasing security following the fires, Bishop Elliott told 3AW.

He said he did not believe the attacks were linked to historic abuse, but noted Catholic churches had been susceptible to spates of attacks in the past.

“We’ve had phases of attacks on churches. About 15 years ago there were a spate of them in the Malvern/Camberwell area and then we had the case of the beautiful church at Chelsea nine years ago, which was restored later.”

A police spokeswoman could not confirm police were investigating whether the three fires are linked.

St Kilda, Brighton, & Dandenong are all south-southeast of central Melbourne