Unwitting party to sacrilege. Am I guilty?

[jtodisco]

Approximately 8 years ago I began my journey back to the Catholic Faith after spending my teenage years living to a greater or lesser extent as a heathen. I received almost no instruction in the Faith beyond simple things like making the Sign of the Cross or saying the Hail Mary. When I first returned to the Faith I was a cafeteria Catholic. I had never even seen a Catechism (let alone read one) and I basically tried to marry the Faith to the erroneous liberal political beliefs I held then.

Sorry if all that seemed unnecessary, but I wanted to give some perspective on the situation that I’m about to describe.

The parish I first came to at that point in my life was a campus Newman Center. It was run by a “spirit of Vatican II” priest (who has since left the priesthood and the Church after creating a great deal of scandal). He was assisted by a very liberal (old hippies) staff.

One day after Mass I was acting as sacristan (this job was given to me without any formal training whatsoever) when I discovered that there was a large amount of the Precious Blood left in the chalice. I asked the “campus minister” (assistant to the priest who always left immediately after each Mass was over) what to do with the remaining Precious Blood. She told me to either consume all of the Precious Blood or to pour it out into the ground next to a bush that grew on the side of the Newman Center. She told me that pouring the Precious Blood into the earth was an acceptable practice.

Since I did not know any better and trusted her I did as she suggested and poured the Precious Blood into the earth next to the bush.

As I grew in faith and educated myself on what Christ and His Church actually teach I became increasingly shocked at what took place at that Newman Center and long since stopped going there. I also repented of my many past sins and even made a General Confession (though I still didn’t recall this incident at that time).

All that said, since so many horrible liturgical abuses took place at that Newman Center I had forgotten this particular incident until I recently came across this statement which jogged my memory immediately:

[107.] In accordance with what is laid down by the canons, “one who throws away the consecrated species or takes them away or keeps them for a sacrilegious purpose, incurs a latae sententiae excommunication reserved to the Apostolic See; a cleric, moreover, may be punished by another penalty, not excluding dismissal from the clerical state”.[194] To be regarded as pertaining to this case is any action that is voluntarily and gravely disrespectful of the sacred species. Anyone, therefore, who acts contrary to these norms, for example casting the sacred species into the sacrarium or in an unworthy place or on the ground, incurs the penalties laid down.[195] Furthermore all will remember that once the distribution of Holy Communion during the celebration of Mass has been completed, the prescriptions of the Roman Missal are to be observed, and in particular, whatever may remain of the Blood of Christ must be entirely and immediately consumed by the Priest or by another minister, according to the norms, while the consecrated hosts that are left are to be consumed by the Priest at the altar or carried to the place for the reservation of the Eucharist.[196]

My question is simple. Since I had no idea what I was doing was sinful at that time and was instructed to do so by a trusted superior am I guilty or not? Am I excommunicated for this action committed at that time? Or would this only apply if I knowingly committed this sin?

 

[Louishacker]

It is impossible to commit a mortal sin if you are ignorant that something is a sin. You wanted to do the right thing and asked the campus minister, who was in charge, what to do and were given erroneous advice, The fault is with the campus minister or with whoever taught him wrongly.

 

[jtodisco]

I know that to commit a mortal sin it needs to be grave matter with full knowledge and full consent of the will. What worried me about this situation is the automatic excommunication attached to the action in question.

From what I understand some sins committed can result in excommunication even if the person claims ignorance of the sinfulness of the action (for example, if someone has an abortion they are excommunicated automatically).

So basically I am unsure if my ignorance at the time means I was innocent or if I was excommunicated regardless?

 

[Corki]

I know that to commit a mortal sin it needs to be grave matter with full knowledge and full consent of the will. What worried me about this situation is the automatic excommunication attached to the action in question.

From what I understand some sins committed can result in excommunication even if the person claims ignorance of the sinfulness of the action (for example, if someone has an abortion they are excommunicated automatically).

So basically I am unsure if my ignorance at the time means I was innocent or if I was excommunicated regardless?

No, even automatic excommunications involve full knowledge, not only of the sinfulness of the act but also of the fact that the sin incurs excommunication. This is true for abortion as well.

 

[Pawstruck]

I find this interesting… Certain elements which contain the Precious Blood (towels used to clean up spills, etc.) are to be cleaned using a Sacrarium, which is a special “sink” which drains directly into the ground. Obviously, the idea is that one would not want to expose the substance of our Lord to the sewer system.

It seems that the person with whom you spoke mistook the practice of disposing non-consumable Elements as a normative practice. The reason I find this to be intriguing is that I might have told you the same thing until about 5 minutes ago, since the priest who directed my RCIA had mentioned that, if the Elements are not consumed, they must go directly into the Earth.

Theological side note: In many places, the Blood would drain down into the water table, which for un-developed countries is their sewer. Just a thought.

On topic: Remember that our Lord is a *person *in the theological sense of the word, and the pinnacle of love in personhood. If I do something foolish and my earthly father were wounded by it, he would still never become angry with me and punish me… he might just say very sternly, “Please… don’t do that ever again!”

Also we would want to remember that the Church acts (or at least intends to act) in harmony with the will of Christ. Our Lord, being both loving and reasonable, has openly shown through many forms of revelation that He gains no pleasure from legalistic sanctions. In other words, if Jesus isn’t angry with you, then His Church ought not to be, either.

You were ignorant. You clearly did not fulfill the conditions of a mortal sin. Regarding excommunication: You would still want to repent specifically for this sin, I think… but excommunication is primarily for the incorrigible.

 

[venite_adoremus]

The CCM/Newman Center I attended in college was built by the Lutherans (we all shared the building) and didn’t have a sacrarium. We were foolish too, and used the kitchen sink to clean the vessels. The Psalmist says, “remember not the sins of my youth…” Bring it up in your next confession. Receive absolution with gratitude. Then let it go.

 

[Sonny89]

Approximately 8 years ago I began my journey back to the Catholic Faith after spending my teenage years living to a greater or lesser extent as a heathen. I received almost no instruction in the Faith beyond simple things like making the Sign of the Cross or saying the Hail Mary. When I first returned to the Faith I was a cafeteria Catholic. I had never even seen a Catechism (let alone read one) and I basically tried to marry the Faith to the erroneous liberal political beliefs I held then.

Sorry if all that seemed unnecessary, but I wanted to give some perspective on the situation that I’m about to describe.

The parish I first came to at that point in my life was a campus Newman Center. It was run by a “spirit of Vatican II” priest (who has since left the priesthood and the Church after creating a great deal of scandal). He was assisted by a very liberal (old hippies) staff.

One day after Mass I was acting as sacristan (this job was given to me without any formal training whatsoever) when I discovered that there was a large amount of the Precious Blood left in the chalice. I asked the “campus minister” (assistant to the priest who always left immediately after each Mass was over) what to do with the remaining Precious Blood. She told me to either consume all of the Precious Blood or to pour it out into the ground next to a bush that grew on the side of the Newman Center. She told me that pouring the Precious Blood into the earth was an acceptable practice.

Since I did not know any better and trusted her I did as she suggested and poured the Precious Blood into the earth next to the bush.

As I grew in faith and educated myself on what Christ and His Church actually teach I became increasingly shocked at what took place at that Newman Center and long since stopped going there. I also repented of my many past sins and even made a General Confession (though I still didn’t recall this incident at that time).

All that said, since so many horrible liturgical abuses took place at that Newman Center I had forgotten this particular incident until I recently came across this statement which jogged my memory immediately:

My question is simple. Since I had no idea what I was doing was sinful at that time and was instructed to do so by a trusted superior am I guilty or not? Am I excommunicated for this action committed at that time? Or would this only apply if I knowingly committed this sin?

Peace and all Good to you!

something very similar happened to me as well. I think the key words from the passage you quoted are “voluntarily and gravely disrespectful”. As has been said by others, without a full knowledge & deliberate intent, a person can’t be guilty of something like sacrilege. Certainly not to the point of excommunication

 

[jtodisco]

Thank you all for your responses.

I was trying not to be too legalistic when considering this situation, but considering the gravity of what happened I just wanted to get some additional feedback from others. As I posted this question yesterday I asked myself “If you had to answer this question for someone else what would you say to them?” and my opinion on culpability corresponded with the responses that others gave here.

Thanks again for helping to put my conscience at ease concerning this incident.