Prime Minister Harper said that the story above was "a low moment in journalism", "absurd", "ridiculous", "terrible" and "not based on anything". He also said, "As a Christian, I've never refused communion when offered to me. That is actually pretty important to me".

His advisors have been very insistant that of course he ate it ... although a part of me suspects it might have been after the media got ahold of this story and he located it again in his suit pocket! There are about 13 million Catholics in Canada, and Harper's election victory in 2006 was partly attributed to his strong showing among evangelical Protestants and church-going Catholics.

Enough said?

I am not Catholic, but communion is very meaningful to me. Lutherans don't believe in transubstantiation, but do think that Christ is "truly and substantially present in, with and under" the consecrated bread and wine.

In other words: you don't put it in your pocket to save for the car ride home.

However, when I watched this on the news, I had nothing but empathy for Stephen Harper. I come from a non-church background and have been in these types of situations many times myself. How many people throughout the ages have wandered up for communion because everyone else was getting up and they weren't quite sure where the rest of their pew was going but they thought they better follow?

BUT ... how many of them are the leader of a nation in the front row of a televised funeral service?

AND ... how many of them have had to sit down one-on-one with the Pope a week later? (No word on whether the subject came up between them!)

If Harper did do something that was not proper, I doubt he did it out of disrespect. He really was "damned" regardess (pun intended, literal meaning not!):

• If he took the wafer and promptly ate it, someone would be outraged that he disrespected Christ/Catholicism by taking Catholic communion when he is not Catholic.


• If he took the wafer "to be polite" and didn't eat it, someone would be outraged that he disrespected Christ by defiling His body.


• If he had declined the wafer, especially without taking the blessing instead, someone probably would have been outraged that he thinks his '"sin" don't stink' and he doesn't need communion.

Canon law states that 'Catholic ministers may lawfully administer the sacraments only to Catholic members of Christ's faithful' (Canon 844). It does not specify that people may not present themselves for communion, since canon law claims jurisdiction only over Catholics, and it does not specify how a priest ought to respond if a non-Catholic presents himself or herself for Communion: it becomes a judgement call.