Archbishop's communion faux pas causes controversy.

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On Friday, July 3, Prime Minister Stephen Harper attended the Catholic funeral of former Governor General Romeo Leblanc in Memrancook, N.B. A 40-second amateur video of this event, promptly posted on You Tube showed Mr. Harper receiving Communion from Archbishop Andre Richard.

In a slow-news summer, an immediate brouhaha exploded in the media regarding the fate of the consecrated host: did the PM consume it, or did he slip it into his pocket? This question is a mere side issue, although by July 29 it had taken on a new life with the suspicion that this story may have been deliberately planted.

The real question is: why did the Archbishop offer the Eucharist to the Prime Minister whom he knew to be a Protestant?

The Eucharist (Greek for Thanksgiving) is the supreme act of Christian worship instituted by Christ Himself and, as taught from the beginning, containing Christ's Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. But since the sixteenth century schism in Europe, Protestants have denied this reality, as do many today. The Canadian media generally blamed the PM but the fault was the Archbishop's, the consequence of ignoring the Church's instructions out of a false sense of friendliness and welcome.

A protocol officer in the PM's party told the Archbishop before the ceremony "that anyone who wanted to take part in Communion would signal his or her willingness to do so?' ("Archbishop: PM did no wrong," Toronto Sun, July 10, 2009).

The Church, however, teaches that at large public events priests should announce that only practising Catholics with the proper disposition should approach to receive Communion; others, including non-Catholics, may come forward for a blessing, signifying this request by crossing their arms over their chests, or simply await the final blessing at the close of Mass. It appears that this requirement was not proclaimed at the funeral.

The Archbishop's answer to press inquiries on these points were characterized by a rather non-committal attitude, claiming that, "it's obvious no disrespect was meant" That, no doubt, is true.

But the Archbishop still did not seem to grasp that he was responsible for a nation-wide media scandal garnished with inappropriate cartoons and comments, all because of a lax attitude towards the Church's instructions for the protection of the Blessed Eucharist.