Police in Florida are looking into an incident concerning a Catholic priest who allegedly bit a female parishioner who wanted to receive Holy Communion, the St. Cloud Police Department (SCPD) said, FOX35 reported Thursday.
The alleged altercation happened after the parishioner attempted to take the communion improperly at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church during Sunday’s noon mass, according to FOX35.
Church officials reportedly told police the priest refused to give the woman communion at the 10 a.m. Mass because she did not follow the appropriate steps, including holding her hands toward the priest, receiving the communion wafer and saying “Amen.” (RELATED: Video Appears To Show Lawmaker Bite Fellow MP’s Face)
Police are investigating an incident that unfolded at a Catholic church on Sunday where a priest allegedly bit a churchgoer because she was trying to receive the Holy Communion in an improper way, according to the St. Cloud Police Department. https://t.co/tyGCVpfwiS
— FOX 35 Orlando (@fox35orlando) May 23, 2024
The priest, who gave the woman a blessing instead of the Holy Communion, told police she tried to receive the communion “like she was taking a cookie,” according to FOX35.
When the same woman came back for the noon Mass, the priest asked her, “You are here again?” he reportedly told police.
After the priest asked her if she had gone to Confession before returning to Mass, she refused to give him an explanation, the priest said, the outlet reported.
The priest told police he decided to grant communion on her tongue but before he could place the wafer there, the woman allegedly pushed him and grabbed the Communion bowl in an apparent attempt to give herself Holy Communion, FOX35 reported.
The priest thought this a sacrilegious act and allegedly decided to bite the woman, he told authorities, according to the outlet.
“I recognize that I bite (sic) her, I am not denying that,” he reportedly said. At this point the Mass was stopped and ended in a “disaster,” the priest said, according to the outlet.
The priest described his alleged actions as self-defense and defense of the sacrament, the outlet reported. In a statement, the Diocese of Orlando reportedly supported the priest’s claim that he was defending the sacrament as well as himself when he allegedly bit the woman.
“While the Diocese of Orlando does not condone physical altercations such as this, in good faith, (the priest) was simply attempting to prevent an act of desecration of the Holy Communion, which, as a priest, (he) is bound by duty to protect,” the statement reads, according to the outlet.
Responding to an accusation by the woman’s companion that the priest had singled out the woman because of her “sexuality and attire,” the priest told police he did not know the woman at all, the police report says, FOX35 reported.
No criminal charges have been filed at this time and the outlet has elected not to publish the names of either party.
