Did he or didn’t he?

From Deborah Gyapong (CCN):

Only days before Prime Minister Stephen Harper's audience with Pope Benedict XVI, the big story upstaging his efforts to keep G8 countries from introducing more stimulus measures to the economy concerns whether he ate the Communion host at former Governor General Romeo LeBlanc's funeral or pocketed it.



A spokesman for the Prime Minister's office insists the he did eat it, but the fact that Harper is a Protestant has some blogs and online stories in a tizzy. A video of the "act" is up on YouTube and "inconclusive."

Of course, the timing, so close to his audience with the Pope adds some extra "scandal" to the story. The Prime Minister, however, did not rise to go receive Communion. Instead, Archbishop Andre Richard went over to him and offered it. Some, like my press gallery colleague CFRB Ottawa Bureau Chief Brian Lilley, have suggested the archbishop is the one to blame.

I tried to make it an early night last night back at Casa Santa Brigida, the lovely convent where I am staying, but I was told this morning this issue was the talk of the Ottawa-based journalists after they returned to Rome from L'Aquila. In fact, there was even a joke circulating that when the Prime Minister meets with the Holy Father on Saturday he will hand the Host to him and say, "I think this belongs to you."

Talk of the "scandal" or "faux pas" continued to be the talk over breakfast this morning at the media hotel's beautiful rooftop terrace. When I arrived, several journalists asked me to explain why the Communion issue was such a big fuss, and why the big deal if the Prime Minister did pocket it. They seemed to think the whole thing was a little silly, especially the insistence on the part of Senator Noel Kinsella that he saw the Prime Minister consume the host.

Some journalists were relieved they did not have to cover this story; others were surprised at how big it has become. It was one of the most popular stories on the Globe and Mail's website.

I tried to explain that maybe it's a bit of inside baseball for Catholics, but non-Catholics are not supposed to receive Communion. In fact, even Catholics who do not believe in Christ's Real Presence are, from a theological point of view, putting themselves in spiritual danger by receiving it.

I also noted that it is a big deal on whether the host is consumed on the spot, as there are concerns about sacrilege if someone were to take it away and perhaps use it in another ritual. I have even seen a priest stop someone who was departing from the communion rail with a host and insist it be consumed.

One journalist asked whether it was just politeness to offer Communion to a prime minister or any guest in the church. The host is not a symbol, I explained, but the Body of Jesus Christ.

I asked the PM’s press secretary Dmitri Soudas about the uproar. Here’s what he said:

"The Prime Minister was sitting at the front of the church. The priest, the archbishop, conducting the service approached the front row and offered Communion to the Governor General, her husband and then offered it to the Prime Minister.

"The Prime Minister accepted it and then he consumed it. "It's totally absurd for anybody to say he did not consume it."

The YouTube video shows the PM hesitating. The camera moves away. I asked why the hesitation.

"He was holding his program in his hand. He just put the program down and then he consumed (the consecrated host)."

Soudas also noted that Senator Noel Kinsella, the Senate Speaker, has confirmed that he saw the Prime Minister consume the host.

Asked whether the Prime Minister is aware that it is a scandal for non-Catholics to receive Communion, he said:

"The Prime Minister is Christian and in this specific case, the archbishop offered it to the Prime Minister and he consumed it."

By the way, this morning I awoke with the birds and made my way by bus to St. Peter's Basilica before all the tourists arrive. At 7:30 a.m. St. Peter's Square was nearly vacant, just the odd pilgrim and a couple of tour groups with bright identifying sashes. Inside, priests were presiding at mass at numerous side chapels. The awe-inspiring basilica was nearly empty of tourists, making it a much more prayerful experience. Through a grate in the floor came the sounds of chanting from the crypt where popes are buried.

The G8 has really fouled up traffic and bus routes, especially around the American Embassy, which is just down the street from the media hotel, making it really difficult to get around the city, even by cab. When I was trying to get back to the convent, I had to try to persuade the cab driver to make a U-turn because I had just left an area that was blocked by police as a big motorcade drove right onto Piazze Navone. I couldn't see whose it was. I imagine a lot of first ladies are out shopping and sight-seeing. And when the U.S. President moves anywhere, streets close, helicopters hover overhead, and traffic stops.