The Holy Spirit, speaking to us through Saint Paul, tells us that sacrilege, which is adultery, when it comes in the form of betraying the marital union with Christ through unfaithful reception of the Eucharist, renders the faithless one, "guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord" (1 Cor 11:27).
In Chapter 3 of his classic work entitled, "Jesus, Our Eucharistic Love," Father Stefano Manelli writes, "Holy Communion must be received only when one is in the grace of God. Therefore, when one has committed a mortal sin, even if one has repented of it and has a great desire to receive Holy Communion, it is necessary and indispensable to go to Confession first before receiving Holy Communion. Otherwise one commits a most grave sin of sacrilege, for which Jesus said to St. Bridget, 'There does not exist on earth a penalty great enough to punish it sufficiently!'
St. Ambrose said that persons who commit this sacrilege 'come into church with a few sins, and leave it burdened with many.' St. Cyril wrote even more bluntly: 'They who make a sacrilegious Communion receive Satan and Jesus Christ into their hearts—Satan, that they may let him rule, and Jesus Christ, that they may offer Him in a sacrifice as a Victim to Satan.'
Thus the Catechism of the Council of Trent (De Euch., v.i.) declares, 'As of all the sacred mysteries . . . none can compare with the. . . Eucharist, so likewise for no crime is there heavier punishment to be feared from God than for the unholy or irreligious use by the faithful of that which. . . contains the very Author and Source of holiness.'"
Does Pope Francis believe this? If so, why the Radcliffe appointment?
