Excommunicated for host desecration?

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Gelatto

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Hello,

I randomly came across a Wikipedia article on excommunication, and I think that it might apply to me, as I have desecrated the host in the past. The first time I did it was in 4th grade when I put one in my pocket and poked it with a pencil. I was curious after my school priest told us a story about how someone once did that and the host started bleeding. I confessed it a week later, but it never dawned on me that it was so serious. Later as a teenager I did it again several times, mainly out of frustration of being forced to go to daily mass, and feeling at odds with anything spritual. The worst thing I remember doing was throwing the host on a flower bed, but I also imagined flushing it down a toilet, etc. Eventually I got over those feelings, and years later I even went to confession a few times, but I don’t recall confessing those things specifically… It’s not something I’ve constantly kept on my mind.

Noawadays I still feel agnostic, and I don’t really feel affected by guilt. I also don’t feel like I’m a bad person, but I do wish faith was as easy as others make it seem.

I would appreciate your thoughts.

I’d first like to know if I’m officially excommunicated. For what it’s worth, I knew that host desecration was wrong, but I was not aware that it resulted in automatic excommunication.

I’m also wondering if my previous history prevented me from developing any conviction and devotion towards Catholicism.

I would also like to know what I should do about it. Some websites say only the Pope can undo this kind of excommunication. I feel that I should just not let it concern me, after all, Catholicism seems like an impossible challenge.

I hope I didn’t upset anyone. As you can tell I don’t know much, and I have some curiosity regarding this situation and anything I can learn from it.
 
No, you are not excommunicated. It’s actually quite hard to be excommunicated, and the very fact that you have to ask indicates de facto that you are not, as one of the requirements is that the person knows that the action in question is an excommunicable offense. In other words, you can’t accidentally excommunicate yourself. Furthermore, though I don’t have my Code of Canon Law in front of me, so I’d have to check to be sure, but I believe you also need to be 16 (I know this is the case with respect to abortion). So, unless you were 16 in fourth grade, in which case we’d have some other issues, the penalty doesn’t apply.

That said, what DOES apply is that you are in need of the Lord’s mercy. I encourage you to speak with your pastor. Tell him what happened, and ask to go to Confession. I have no doubt that he will help you. If you’re searching Wikipedia for this stuff, you’re clearly interested in the faith. So, talk to you pastor…this is nothing a good confession can’t fix.
 
Gelatto said:
I’m also wondering if my previous history prevented me from developing any conviction and devotion towards Catholicism.
Click to expand...
I don’t know anything about you being excommunicated but it is clear that your actions have damaged your soul. All sin causes damage, and grave sins cause grave damage. Only God can heal you, but you have to let Him do it. My suggestion is to schedule an appointment with a priest as soon as possible to discuss this and hopefully to get absolution. Don’t try to carry this burden alone.
 
Thanks for weighing in Father. So glad you are still around. Peace.
 
To add, try and do some research on Eucharistic miracles. There’s one on a woman who took a host and tried to fry it in a pan. It bled all the way down to the floor and outside the door of the house. http://www.therealpresence.org/eucharst/mir/english_pdf/Trani.pdf

There’s another one, very popular, called the Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano, I believe.

Christ is present! After Christ said, “For My flesh is real food, and My blood is real drink. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me, and I in him.” many began to leave the room because they couldn’t believe in such a thing, That Jesus would be present in the bread and wine, as we see in the next few verses:

Then many of his disciples who were listening said, “This saying is hard; who can accept it? Since Jesus knew that his disciples were murmuring about this, he said to them, “Does this shock you What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” Jesus knew from the beginning the ones who would not believe and the one who would betray him. And he said, “For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by my Father.” As a result of this, many [of] his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him. Jesus then said to the Twelve, “Do you also want to leave?” Simon Peter answered him, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."
 
Yes, Jesus is really present in the Host. However, let’s be clear that “bleeding Host miracles” do not happen every time a Host is desecrated, as shown by the OP’s description of poking them with a pencil and presumably nothing happened.
 
Technical point: to be capable of incurring an automatic penalty, one has to be at least 18 years old (c. 1324.3, referring back to c. 1324.1.4).

Dan
 
Gelatto said:
Hello,

I randomly came across a Wikipedia article on excommunication, and I think that it might apply to me, as I have desecrated the host in the past. The first time I did it was in 4th grade when I put one in my pocket and poked it with a pencil. I was curious after my school priest told us a story about how someone once did that and the host started bleeding. I confessed it a week later, but it never dawned on me that it was so serious. Later as a teenager I did it again several times, mainly out of frustration of being forced to go to daily mass, and feeling at odds with anything spritual. The worst thing I remember doing was throwing the host on a flower bed, but I also imagined flushing it down a toilet, etc. Eventually I got over those feelings, and years later I even went to confession a few times, but I don’t recall confessing those things specifically… It’s not something I’ve constantly kept on my mind.

Noawadays I still feel agnostic, and I don’t really feel affected by guilt. I also don’t feel like I’m a bad person, but I do wish faith was as easy as others make it seem.

I would appreciate your thoughts.

I’d first like to know if I’m officially excommunicated. For what it’s worth, I knew that host desecration was wrong, but I was not aware that it resulted in automatic excommunication.

I’m also wondering if my previous history prevented me from developing any conviction and devotion towards Catholicism.

I would also like to know what I should do about it. Some websites say only the Pope can undo this kind of excommunication. I feel that I should just not let it concern me, after all, Catholicism seems like an impossible challenge.

I hope I didn’t upset anyone. As you can tell I don’t know much, and I have some curiosity regarding this situation and anything I can learn from it.
Click to expand...
Hello,

First, I will pray for you.

Second, I highly suggest that you call your local Catholic Church and schedule an appointment to sit down with a priest and talk about your childhood and life.

Even if you don’t return the Catholic Church, at least it may help you put this past behind you. However, I do pray that it will lead you back to the Church.

God bless
 
No, it’s not possible since the law states that a “penalty must be tempered or a penance employed in its place” for those who are between 16-18 (c. 1324.1). In that case, if a crime carries with it a penalty of excommunication and a (let’s say) 17 year-old violates it, the competent authority cannot impose that penalty. Only a lighter penalty, or a penance, can be applied.

Dan
 
Yes, of course. That’s an important distinction. It requires faith to believe in the Real Presence.
 
You need to confess. This is a grave sin, and I’m shocked reading this. As Catholics, we believe the Eucharist is LITERALLY the Body and Blood of Christ.
 
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