To the editor:

Suppose a reasonably honest atheist researching the world’s religions comes upon the Roman Catholic religion and notes an unusually high number of scientifically unexplainable phenomena, especially Eucharistic miracles (search Lanciano). He finds out many of these events originated at Holy Mass where bread and wine are changed into Jesus (God) by Divine power given to priests.

He notes that priests are trained to be very careful at the altar when handling God in the form of a bread Host, lest a particle be broken off and fall to the floor and God be stepped on.

After further studying the church’s history (pre-1960s) he notes that all Catholics throughout the world were obliged to give God great physical respect in that they were not allowed to touch the ‘God who looks like bread’. That ‘God’ was placed on their tongue while kneeling, so that no particle of ‘God’ might be physically desecrated.

To his amazement, he finds that in the 1960s rebel priests in Denmark started handing out God for people to receive Him in their hands. He reasons that a thin wafer of bread is very susceptible to releasing small chips, especially when priests hand out broken Hosts. The rebel priests were unimpeded by their bishops and so the practice spread throughout western Europe and into the U.S. in the 1970’s. In February of 1980, Pope John Paul II published ‘Domincae Cenae’ which basically told the hierarchy to stop the abuse of Our Lord; they ignored him and continue the abuse right up to the present day.

The atheist reasons that if the hierarchy/leadership of this church are incapable of self-correction; why should he take this religion seriously? So he stays in his own ‘comfort zone’ and ‘opts out’ of becoming Catholic lest he become part of the ‘logically confused’.

The Church just completed a three-year Eucharistic Revival in Indianapolis July 21. The goal was to increase a love and respect for Jesus in the Eucharist.

But the question still remains: How can you increase love of the physical presence of the Lord while physically treating Him like dirt?

Phil Drietz

Delhi