Kramet1 - Steven Harper puts the host in his pocket

At the very sacred occasion of the funeral of former Governor General Roméo Leblanc, Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who is not a Roman Catholic, first accepted the host and then... put it in his pocket. Here is the video:



From the Catholic Encyclopedia:

Real sacrilege

Real sacrilege is the irreverent treatment of sacred things as distinguished from places and persons. This can happen first of all by the administration or reception of the sacraments (or in the case of the Holy Eucharist by celebration) in the state of mortal sin, as also by advertently doing any of those things invalidly. Indeed deliberate and notable irreverence towards the Holy Eucharist is reputed to be the worst of all sacrileges. Likewise conscious maltreatment of sacred pictures or relics or perversion of Holy Scripture or sacred vessels to unhallowed uses, and finally, the usurpation or diverting of property (whether movable or immovable) intended for the maintenance of the clergy or serving for the ornamentation of the church to other uses, constitute real sacrileges. Sometimes the guilt of sacrilege may be incurred by omitting what is required for the proper administration of the sacraments or celebration of the sacrifice, as for example, if one were to say Mass without the sacred vestments.

From Code of Canon (Latin Rite Code canon 1367; Eastern Rite Code canon 1442):

As Christians believe Jesus to be true God and true man, his body and blood in the form of the consecrated host are adored in the Catholic Church. Theft, sale, or use of the hose for a profane purpose is considered a grave sin and sacrilege.

I am not Catholic, so it is not for me to ask for an apology from the Prime Minister or to be offended by his actions at that sacred occasion. But clearly he knew enough to know, as a non-Catholic, not to eat the Host, so why did he receive it in the first place and why, having received it, did he toss in his pocket?

So I ask my Catholic readers: how bad was the Prime Minister's sacrilege? What should the Prime Minister do to atone for his sacrilege?

Clearly, many Canadian Catholics noticed, think it was a bad sacrilege and asking for an explanation and an apology from the Prime Minister for accepting the holy sacrament in the first place and then desecrating it by tossing it in his pocket in the second place.

Not surprisingly, many bloggers have noticed as well.

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