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GodBlessJoanie
Guest
The Boycott is Over: Ebay Will Not Permit Future Auctions of Catholic Communion Hosts
What is the Current Status?
Much to its credit, Ebay has reconsidered, and has officially stated that, under its existing policies, sales of the Eucharist, as well as other unspecified holy objects of Catholics and other religious faiths, will not be permitted in the future. In fact, Ebay is asking Catholics to bring any violations of this policy to its attention promptly, so that it can take appropriate action.
What Exactly has Ebay Said?
Here is the complete text of the revised response that Ebay sent on May 1, 2005 to some or all of the Catholics and others who sent emails of protest to customer service:
Hello [customername],
Thank you for your email regarding the sale of the Holy Eucharist by one of our community members. We respect and appreciate your comments regarding this sensitive matter.
As you may know, eBay does not sell items itself. Rather, we are a global marketplace for sellers and buyers who transact directly with one another. Each day eBay’s sellers list 5 million items on the site, and those sellers decide what items they want to list. eBay did not possess, list or approve the sale of the Eucharist. The buyer and seller completed the Eucharist transaction on April 11th, before eBay even became aware of the listing.
As a marketplace, we strive to respect the diverse perspectives of our sellers. We also work hard to promote an open environment for trade. That said, eBay has policies in place to remove listings for illegal items as well as highly offensive listings that promote hate or intolerance.
We understand that the listing of the Eucharist was highly upsetting to Catholic members of the eBay community and Catholics globally. Once this completed sale was brought to our attention, we consulted with a number of our users, including members of the Catholic Church, concerning what course we should take in the future should a similar listing appear on our site. We also consulted with members of other religions about items that might also be highly sacred and inappropriate for sale. As a result of this dialogue, we have concluded that sales of the Eucharist, and similar highly sacred items, are not appropriate on eBay. We have, therefore, broadened our policies and will remove those types of listings should they appear on the site in the future.
As always, we welcome and appreciate the assistance of the community in upholding the rules of our site. Should you see another Eucharist listed on our site, we encourage you to notify us so we can take appropriate action. Further, we encourage you to directly communicate with the seller. Members are often unaware that a particular item is offensive to others. A respectful e-mail to the seller is often all that is needed for the seller to voluntarily remove the item. We believe this modification strikes the appropriate balance between respect for our community’s values and our goal of providing an open marketplace offering practically anything on earth.
Again, we sincerely appreciate your concern and thank you for communicating your views with us. Your (name removed by moderator)ut has helped us frame a policy that will enable us to better serve our diverse community of users around the world.
Regards,
Lenore on behalf of Bill Cobb
Community Watch Team
eBay Trust & Safety
NOTE:
Obtaining a consecrated communion host for any purpose but immediate consumption by a Catholic in good standing, in the presence of the priest or other authorized minister, and in accordance with the norms of the Church, may in fact constitute the crime of theft in some or all US jurisdictions (larceny by trick or false pretense). Therefore, in addition to condoning gross sacrilege, Ebay may also be criminally liable for aiding and abetting the sale of stolen property.
What Does this Mean?
It means that the boycott over sales of the Eucharist is over. If you’ve asked Ebay and Penpal to close your accounts, you can ask for them to be reinstated, or open new ones. There are still some open questions about the other “similar highly sacred items” that Ebay describes in its letter. However, we hope that Ebay will continue to work constructively and sensitively with Catholics and members of other religions to clarify and implement this policy. In particular, as Catholics, we have for many years been attempting to end the sale of relics, especially first class relics, on the site.
AMEN!
What is the Current Status?
Much to its credit, Ebay has reconsidered, and has officially stated that, under its existing policies, sales of the Eucharist, as well as other unspecified holy objects of Catholics and other religious faiths, will not be permitted in the future. In fact, Ebay is asking Catholics to bring any violations of this policy to its attention promptly, so that it can take appropriate action.
What Exactly has Ebay Said?
Here is the complete text of the revised response that Ebay sent on May 1, 2005 to some or all of the Catholics and others who sent emails of protest to customer service:
Hello [customername],
Thank you for your email regarding the sale of the Holy Eucharist by one of our community members. We respect and appreciate your comments regarding this sensitive matter.
As you may know, eBay does not sell items itself. Rather, we are a global marketplace for sellers and buyers who transact directly with one another. Each day eBay’s sellers list 5 million items on the site, and those sellers decide what items they want to list. eBay did not possess, list or approve the sale of the Eucharist. The buyer and seller completed the Eucharist transaction on April 11th, before eBay even became aware of the listing.
As a marketplace, we strive to respect the diverse perspectives of our sellers. We also work hard to promote an open environment for trade. That said, eBay has policies in place to remove listings for illegal items as well as highly offensive listings that promote hate or intolerance.
We understand that the listing of the Eucharist was highly upsetting to Catholic members of the eBay community and Catholics globally. Once this completed sale was brought to our attention, we consulted with a number of our users, including members of the Catholic Church, concerning what course we should take in the future should a similar listing appear on our site. We also consulted with members of other religions about items that might also be highly sacred and inappropriate for sale. As a result of this dialogue, we have concluded that sales of the Eucharist, and similar highly sacred items, are not appropriate on eBay. We have, therefore, broadened our policies and will remove those types of listings should they appear on the site in the future.
As always, we welcome and appreciate the assistance of the community in upholding the rules of our site. Should you see another Eucharist listed on our site, we encourage you to notify us so we can take appropriate action. Further, we encourage you to directly communicate with the seller. Members are often unaware that a particular item is offensive to others. A respectful e-mail to the seller is often all that is needed for the seller to voluntarily remove the item. We believe this modification strikes the appropriate balance between respect for our community’s values and our goal of providing an open marketplace offering practically anything on earth.
Again, we sincerely appreciate your concern and thank you for communicating your views with us. Your (name removed by moderator)ut has helped us frame a policy that will enable us to better serve our diverse community of users around the world.
Regards,
Lenore on behalf of Bill Cobb
Community Watch Team
eBay Trust & Safety
NOTE:
Obtaining a consecrated communion host for any purpose but immediate consumption by a Catholic in good standing, in the presence of the priest or other authorized minister, and in accordance with the norms of the Church, may in fact constitute the crime of theft in some or all US jurisdictions (larceny by trick or false pretense). Therefore, in addition to condoning gross sacrilege, Ebay may also be criminally liable for aiding and abetting the sale of stolen property.
What Does this Mean?
It means that the boycott over sales of the Eucharist is over. If you’ve asked Ebay and Penpal to close your accounts, you can ask for them to be reinstated, or open new ones. There are still some open questions about the other “similar highly sacred items” that Ebay describes in its letter. However, we hope that Ebay will continue to work constructively and sensitively with Catholics and members of other religions to clarify and implement this policy. In particular, as Catholics, we have for many years been attempting to end the sale of relics, especially first class relics, on the site.
AMEN!
