'Pocketing Eucharist'
By Guevara's Girlfriend Was Not Sacrilege,
Catholic Church Says
The girlfriend of Otto Guevara, the
Movimiento Libertario party presidential
candidate, has sparked a scandal within the
Catholic church for pocketing the Eucharist
during Sunday morning's mass by San José
Archbishop Hugo Barrantes Ureña, attended by
the country's presidential candidates
Deborah Formal, instead of consuming the
Eucharist at a Sunday Mass, placed a small
piece of the consecrated host inside the
shirt pocket of Guevara.
The action by formal was noticed by the
Bishop and those attending the the mass, was
also caught on camera
The Costa Rican bishop, in a statement
released on Tuesday, said the act was
offensive, but it did not constitute
sacrilege.
Formal explained her actions saying, “Upon
receiving Communion I asked the archbishop
if I could share the blessing with Otto. I
misunderstood what he said to me and I tried
to do something that would allow Otto to
carry a part of God in his heart.”
“It was never my intention to disrespect the
Catholic Church,” she said.
Archbishop Barrantes released a statement
noting that while Formal’s action was
“disrespectful,” it was not a sacrilege,
which 2120 of the Catechism defines as
“profaning or treating unworthily the
sacraments and other liturgical actions, as
well as persons, things, or places
consecrated to God.”
The catechism continues, “Sacrilege is a
grave sin especially when committed against
the Eucharist, for in this sacrament the
true Body of Christ is made substantially
present for us.”
After priests were notified of Formal's
actions, the statement indicated, they
“asked Mr. Guevara to return the piece of
the consecrated host he was carrying, and he
returned it. It was then consumed
immediately by one of the concelebrating
priests.”
The archbishop also pointed out that “canon
1367 of the Code of Canon Law states that
'one who throws away the consecrated
species,' or 'takes them away or keeps them'
commits the crime of sacrilege.”
This was not the case, he reassured the
Costa Ricans, “so no sacrilege took place.”
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