eBay Pulls Sale of Consecrated Communion Host After 9,000 Complaints Received

[buffalo]

eBay Pulls Sale of Consecrated Communion Host After 9,000 Complaints Received

SAN JOSE, California, April 20, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – eBay confirmed to LifeSiteNews.com today that the company voluntarily cancelled a listing for a consecrated Host.

It was not clear at the time of this publishing that the company policy had changed to ban all similar sales. A customer representative named Joshua, when asked why he thought eBay pulled the listing, told LifeSiteNews.com that “it could have been the eight or nine thousand complaints we received.”

The cancellation is no doubt the result of backlash from faithful Catholics – outraged at the offence this had caused – but is likely also in part due to a letter from Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver, as reported by the Catholic News Agency Tuesday.

more…

 

[Scout]

I hope it’s now a permanent policy.

Scout :tiphat:

 

[WanderAimlessly]

Scout:

I hope it’s now a permanent policy.

Scout :tiphat:

Unfortunately, I do not believe this is the case. Another board I frequent had the followinbg article from the Washington Times:

EBay moves to end Eucharist auction
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By Melissa Brosk
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
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Online auction house EBay yesterday urged a seller to end the sale of a Eucharist wafer purportedly blessed by Pope John Paul II after officials determined they couldn’t verify “outrageous” bids.

Full Story

In essence, they could not verify the bids. and the following is telling of thier policy:

“We understood it would offend some people, but it’s a legitimate listing. If it were to be put up again, we’d let it stay there,” said Hanzi Durzy, an EBay spokesman. “We didn’t pull the listing because of what it was. We pulled it because bidding got into an outrageous price range with no bidder preapproval.”

Since I do not use eBay, there is not much I could do except for maybe signing the petition.

There is however, another way that we could put pressure on eBay. EBay does have other divisions like Half.com and many companies use eBay as their storefront. By not using the other eBay divisions and eMailing the other companies that use eBat as thier storefront, we may get a better response from eBay.

PF

 

[Mimi]

Did anyone read Donohue’s (head of the Catholic League) letter to ebay? Here’s the link:
catholicleague.org/05press_releases/quarter%202/050413_ebay.htm

I can’t imagine what would be an equivalent sacrilege to, say, a Muslim or other religion.

I’m glad this has come to attention; heard talk about it on Relevant Radio. Advice from Ros Moss was to call the Catholic League.

Mimi

 

[martino]

Unfortunately the idiot that was selling the Host still has it in his possession!

 

[MyDearJesus]

martino:

Unfortunately the idiot that was selling the Host still has it in his possession!

That is correct, but some of us are working on that! The Diocese that covers the seller’s area has been provided with her contact information, including telephone number. I am hoping that it comes to a resolution similar to the one in Iowa.

 

[MyDearJesus]

WanderAimlessly:

Unfortunately, I do not believe this is the case. Another board I frequent had the followinbg article from the Washington Times:

In essence, they could not verify the bids. and the following is telling of thier policy: Since I do not use eBay, there is not much I could do except for maybe signing the petition.

There is however, another way that we could put pressure on eBay. EBay does have other divisions like Half.com and many companies use eBay as their storefront. By not using the other eBay divisions and eMailing the other companies that use eBat as thier storefront, we may get a better response from eBay.

PF

There are some errors in that story, but you are correct. A couple of us bid over $19 million so they knew they were bogus bids. I think they cancelled the auction primarily because they didn’t want attention drawn to it. It’s not up to them to verify the authenticity of bids. If I didn’t pay my $19 or so I’d get negative feedback! If they closed my account, I’d set up another for the next time.

 

[Rascal]

Oooo, I hope the DCR (Denver Catholic Register) publishes Chaput’s letter! That would make a great editorial.