TORONTO (RNS/ENI) Just days before a scheduled audience with Pope Benedict XVI, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper found himself in hot water for breaking protocol and taking Communion at a Roman Catholic funeral.
When the incident was initially reported, it was suggested that Harper, an evangelical Protestant, slipped the consecrated wafer into his pocket or service leaflet, but his spokesperson and another attendee said he did consume it.
Others who witnessed the ceremony, though, point to a YouTube video clip that shows Harper accepting the wafer from a priest, but he is not seen raising it to his mouth.
The incident took place at a funeral in New Brunswick for Romo LeBlanc, Canada’s former governor general.
Catholics believe that that once consecrated by a priest, the Communion host and wine are the actual body and blood of Jesus, not merely symbols. The church reserves Communion for Catholics only.
Monsignor Brian Henneberry, vicar general and chancellor in the diocese of Saint John, told the Telegraph Journal newspaper in Saint John that he received a complaint from a Catholic and called Harper’s office for an explanation. Regardless of what happened to the wafer, church officials said Harper, as a non-Catholic, should not have accepted Communion.
“In terms of the celebration of the Mass, coming up for Communion is reserved for Catholics,” Neil MacCarthy, communications director for the Archdiocese of Toronto, told Ecumenical News International. “That is not meant to be exclusive but, rather, inclusive of those who believe” (that the wafer is the body of Christ).
MacCarthy said it was clear there was no malice on the prime minister’s part and it was regrettable that his advisers had not adequately prepared him for the ceremony. Still, he said, the issue was a good opportunity to educate the wider community about what Catholics believe about Communion.
“It is definitely a difficult issue for non-Catholics and even some Catholics to understand, but it is a core belief of ours, that Communion is not just symbolic,” MacCarthy said.
Harper is scheduled to meet Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday (July 11) following meetings of leaders of the Group of Eight (G8) industrial nations in L’Aquila, Italy.
