[Catholic Caucus] Young Woman Kneels at Holy Communion. Priest Loses His Temper

Lucrezia B., 24, whose aunt is a nun, wrote to AlleatiEucarestiaEVangelo.blogspot.com to tell how she was liturgically abused in a church in the province of Messina.

The priest was Don Giuseppe Mammana, 76, of the parish of San Benedetto il Moro in Acquedolci, Diocese of Patti, Sicily.

After the incident, Lucrezia wrote to the bishop and received a "positive reply". The bishop expressed his regret and promised to take the necessary steps to prevent this unfortunate situation from happening again in the future. It is to be hoped that his words will be followed by deeds.

Lucrezia went to Mass every Sunday and received Communion in the correct and ordinary way, but Don Giuseppe "always resisted when I kneeled before receiving Communion", she wrote.

On Sunday 7 July, after Lucrezia had genuflected, he remained "as if petrified".

Lucrezia stood up and waited for him to give her Communion, "but he remained motionless, without saying a word, for a few but interminable seconds, after which he gave her Communion 'with contempt'".

Lucrezia returned to her seat with a feeling of deep sorrow. But this was not the end.

Before the Eucharist ended, Don Giuseppe addressed those present: "There's no need to make a genuflection, there is no need to do so! If you really want to, do it at the end of the aisle; I don't want to see you in front of me!" He went on, but the gist of the speech was this (during the sermon he had said not to judge others).

Then came Sunday, 25 August. As usual, Don Giuseppe read the Gospel, stopping in between to tell a joke. The Gospel was followed by a lousy sermon in which he also railed against genuflections.

He said: "Some people are always glued to their mobile phones; they use the internet for everything, and then they genuflect [before Communion]!"

The moment for Communion came and Lucrezia knelt down as she always did, "ready for anything".

As she rose, Don Giuseppe put his hand over the chalice to cover it and cried out: "Now I will not give you communion! What have I said so far?"

A lady interrupted him, defending Lucrezia, but he continued to shout: "No, Madam, the rule is the same for everyone!"

While he was shouting, Lucrezia looked him straight in the eye to make him understand that she would not back down until he gave her communion, whereupon he gave it to her without saying 'the body of Christ'. Lucrezia said aloud: "Lord, forgive him."

The church was abuzz. Hearing this, Don Giuseppe shouted into the microphone: "Let's stop the gossip, because she's not right, do you understand?!"

Lucrezia was not the only victim of Don Giuseppe. A man who also kneeled before receiving communion was told by him that next time he would throw him out of the church.