A student of the Ateneo de Manila University who made the consecrated host a subject of his food review may face excommunication for allegedly committing a sacrilegious act, according to the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).
Fr. Jerome Secillano, executive secretary of the CBCP public affairs committee, pointed out that the Canon Law provides the penalty of excommunication for sacrilegious acts.
“It’s a form of sacrilege. You have to atone for that. In the Church, there is excommunication regarding (such acts). The Church is very clear on that. That’s canonically provided. There is a provision in the Canon Law. If there is a total disrespect to a sacred specie, it is latae sententiae, which means automatic excommunication,” Secillano stressed.
Under the Canon Law, a person who “throws away the consecrated species or takes or retains them for a sacrilegious purpose” incurs a latae sententiae excommunication.
Excommunication is the Church’s most severe penalty imposed on an erring devotee who is subsequently denied the holy sacraments and considered an exile from Christian society.
The consecrated host, which is a white wafer, is presented as the Body of Christ during Eucharistic celebrations.
Secillano was referring to a student of the Ateneo who posted on social media a food review about the consecrated host, which he took home after attending Mass.
Meanwhile, he said Ateneo has already acted on the matter.
