FEB 26 — Christians and Catholics in particular are likely to have one major topic of discussion when they gather this weekend in churches throughout the country, and that is the decision of the authorities in taking no further action against two journalists from Al Islam who allegedly desecrated the Eucharist.
The Eucharist is a Christian sacrament considered to be a commemoration of the Last Supper, the final meal that Jesus Christ shared with his disciples before his arrest and eventual crucifixion.
Also called the Holy Communion, Catholics and many Christians perform this sacrament at every Mass or service.
They believe in transubstantiation, which means the bread and wine that they partake in during Holy Communion changes into the body and blood of Jesus Christ.
An understanding of what this means to Catholics and Christians should allow the authorities to understand why they were appalled at the actions of these two journalists from Al Islam magazine.
According to the article written by the two, they had sneaked into a Catholic church in Ipoh last year and participated in the Holy Communion, by pretending to be Catholics.
After Mass, the two claimed they spat out the bread, which is an act of desecration.
They claimed in their article that their spying was part of their mission to find out if Muslims were being secretly converted by the Catholic church.
Few Muslims are aware of this issue because the media has largely ignored the story. But among Catholics the issue had caused unease.
In the eyes of the Catholic church, the desecration of the communion is an act even worse than the recent firebombing of places of worship.
Now, the Attorney-General’s Chambers has told the police that no further action will be taken against the two journalists. They had been investigated under Section 298A (1) of the Penal Code for causing disharmony, disunity or feelings of enmity, hatred or ill will, or prejudicing the maintenance of harmony or unity, on grounds of religion.
Never before has the exhibition of double standards been so obvious.
The irony is this message of hypocrisy comes at a time when the Najib administration is asking for support from non-Muslims.
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