CATHOLIC forums have been buzzing like angry wasps over the news this week that a young Spanish man was slapped by a priest for allegedly desecrating a communion wafer.

Outraged by the act, one religiot calling himself Sternhauser posted this comment on Phatmass.com:

Boy, that priest should have slapped that boy until he acknowledged that he had done wrong. Over and over again. A million slaps, yea, even a million lashes wouldn’t be able to punish the boy for what he did, or force him to acknowledge that what he did was wrong, but that priest sure should have tried. Perhaps he should have even called down fire from heaven upon the young blasphemer’s house. Because that’s how souls are saved.



According to this report, the priest in Spain’s province of Valencia slapped the young man in a church in the town of RÃ³tova during a local festival on the evening of September 5.

Believing that the young man had discarded a communion wafer, which the Catholic faith teaches is truly the body and blood of Jesus Christ under the mere appearance of bread, Rev Victor Jimeno then threw him out of the church while denouncing him as a “blasphemer.”

The victim, however, returned the blow.

According to statements made by the priest, the young man may actually be innocent and is taking the blame for a friend who actually did commit the deed.

The priest spoke to the parents of the young man, who has taken to bed in an apparent fit of pique.

Said Jimeno:

RÃ³tova is a small town, a big family, and we don’t want the news to go further.

And he hoped that the town would not become the butt of jokes.

While he recognized that it was indeed members of his own congregation who committed the outrage, the priest says he wants to promote reconciliation and peace.

A friend of the young man who was assaulted by the priest explained that his friend is very upset and unrepentant. The friend explained that the young man threw the communion wafer to the floor during a fit of choking.