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.
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