To Slap Or Not To Slap?

[Lil Red]

http://www.ncregister.com/blog/priest-slaps-young-man-for-desecrating-eucharist/

[quote]Recently there has been a rash of desecration of the Eucharist during communion time. As a result, there have been some calls to restore communion on the tongue.

That is one solution.

Here is another.

A priest in Valencia Spain witnessed a young man during communion take the Eucharist and throw it on the floor. The priest then decided on a course of action that one could properly call old school apologetics of the corporal kind.

The priest slapped the young man across the face and dragged him from the Church and loudly pronounced him a ‘blasphemer.’

There are different schools of thought on this. Some will undoubtedly say that the priest should have counseled the young man on exactly what is wrong with what he did. They would say that violence solves nothing.

Another school might suppose that the young man deserved what he got and the swift punishment for his reprehensible actions will serve as a poignant reminder to the young man and to anyone else who might be so foolish to attempt the same.

I have every reason to believe that when I was a young man, if I had desecrated the Eucharist my parents would have held me down while the priest pummeled some repentance into me.

In trying to decide where I fall on the slap/don’t slap spectrum, I recall when I was 16 in an all boys Catholic High School run by the Franciscans. One day I was mouthing off in a very disrespectful way to a teacher during French class. At that time, the Dean of Students, a certain Brother Gabriel, happened to be walking by the open door of the classroom and heard my disrespect.

Without a moment’s hesitation he walked right into the classroom and up to me. He ordered me to stand up whereupon he smacked me right across the face. Twenty four other young men took a deep breath in unison. The dean had my attention and the attention of everyone else in that classroom. He then grabbed me by the ear, apologized to the teacher on my behalf and escorted me to his office.

He sat me down and stared me down. After what seemed an eternity, he asked me what I had to say for myself. I briefly entertained making some cute remark about whether St. Francis would approve of the Dean’s five-knuckle attention getter but quickly thought better of it since I recently had an epiphany that I no longer lived in a consequence-free world. So I said, “I am sorry, it will never happen again.”

And here is the thing, it never did happen again. When Brother slapped me across the face, the thought of complaining never even crossed my mind because there was one thing I knew for sure. I had it coming. I knew better than to behave in such a way and that slap served as a stinging reminder.

As for me, there is no school like the ol’ school.[/quote]

[Selah]

No slap.

[MIKolbe]

I chose:

Yes, it was apropos only for this situation ..

but I meant it to mean it was apropros in this situation. I do not mean to imply this only one ever, and never another situation. I can see situations where it is apropros, and not aprospros.

[IcePrincessKRS]

[quote name='MIkolbe' timestamp='1283890771' post='2169276']
I chose:

Yes, it was apropos only for this situation ..

but I meant it to mean it was apropros in this situation. I do not mean to imply this only one ever, and never another situation. I can see situations where it is apropros, and not aprospros.
[/quote]

I agree with this. Especially if the priest knew the young man, and the young man was are of the gravity of his actions.

[Jesus_lol]

If you are asking whether it is ever ok for a priest to slap a layperson, i ask, is it ever appropriate for a layperson to slap a priest?

[MIKolbe]

yes

[IcePrincessKRS]

[quote name='Jesus_lol' timestamp='1283890947' post='2169280']
If you are asking whether it is ever ok for a priest to slap a layperson, i ask, is it ever appropriate for a layperson to slap a priest?
[/quote]

That depends on why the priest is being slapped. Because of his office as a priest, then no. Because of a grave offense, yes. Sometimes hitting someone, no matter what their job is, is an appropriate course of action.

[KnightofChrist]

[quote name='MIkolbe' timestamp='1283890771' post='2169276']
I chose:

Yes, it was apropos only for this situation ..

but I meant it to mean it was apropros in this situation. I do not mean to imply this only one ever, and never another situation. I can see situations where it is apropros, and not aprospros.
[/quote]

Agreed.

[rkwright]

I would only add that possibly the Spanish Culture adds some context to the situation. A slap in spain may not be the same as a slap in the US.

[HisChildForever]

I voted that the slap was appropriate in this situation. If the young man was mentally unwell or had some other mental handicap, then obviously a slap would not be appropriate because the young man would not understand the severity of his actions. From the article, we can only assume that he was in good mental health.

We also have to keep in mind that the young man was not just slapped - he was also "dragged" out of the Church, and the priest added to the scene by shouting "blasphemer". What do you all think about this? I personally think we do not have enough information. For all we know, the priest knew the young man or of him - who knows, he could be in some satantic or anti-Catholic group and the priest made a show on purpose because he [the priest] suspected that the group members were watching.

[rkwright]

[quote name='HisChildForever' timestamp='1283892719' post='2169297']
I voted that the slap was appropriate in this situation. If the young man was mentally unwell or had some other mental handicap, then obviously a slap would not be appropriate because the young man would not understand the severity of his actions. From the article, we can only assume that he was in good mental health.

We also have to keep in mind that the young man was not just slapped - he was also "dragged" out of the Church, and the priest added to the scene by shouting "blasphemer". What do you all think about this? I personally think we do not have enough information. For all we know, the priest knew the young man or of him - who knows, he could be in some satantic or anti-Catholic group and the priest made a show on purpose because he [the priest] suspected that the group members were watching.
[/quote]

I'll tell you what I think...

GET OWNED.

[HisChildForever]

[quote name='Jesus_lol' timestamp='1283890947' post='2169280']
If you are asking whether it is ever ok for a priest to slap a layperson, i ask, is it ever appropriate for a layperson to slap a priest?
[/quote]

Sorry, but what kind of a question is this? No one is asking if it is ever okay for a priest to slap a layperson period, but if it is okay for a priest (or any Catholic actually) to use force against [i]anyone[/i] he sees desecrating the Eucharist.

[Tridenteen]

JMJ
I think it was appropriate for the situation. The young man knew what he was doing, and if he knew enough to do it, then probably knew it was bad as well. And in that case...well, if you had a son that somebody was being physically inappropriate with, wouldn't you slap them also? That's how I look at it.

[HisChildForever]

[quote name='Tridenteen' timestamp='1283894422' post='2169311']
JMJ
I think it was appropriate for the situation. The young man knew what he was doing, and if he knew enough to do it, then probably knew it was bad as well. And in that case...well, if you had a son that somebody was being physically inappropriate with, wouldn't you slap them also? That's how I look at it.
[/quote]

Also, while all forms of desecration are horrible and disgusting, different forms require different measures. If the young man had taken the host and only pretended to receive, that would warrant a priest, deacon, or EEM to follow him back to the pew and talk with him privately. The young man, however, wanted all eyes on him - he wanted people to see what he was doing, that he was responsible for it, and what was happening. That requires more drastic measure.

[Tridenteen]

[quote name='HisChildForever' timestamp='1283894859' post='2169314']
Also, while all forms of desecration are horrible and disgusting, different forms require different measures. If the young man had taken the host and only pretended to receive, that would warrant a priest, deacon, or EEM to follow him back to the pew and talk with him privately. The young man, however, wanted all eyes on him - he wanted people to see what he was doing, that he was responsible for it, and what was happening. That requires more drastic measure.
[/quote]


JMJ
exactly. If I was the priest, I can honestly say I would not have been that nice...