Spanish court dismisses charges against artist who desecrated Eucharist

November 17, 2016

A Spanish court has ruled that an artist did not commit a crime by stealing and desecrating the Blessed Sacrament. A Christian lawyers’ group is appealling the decision.

Abel Azcona collected consecrated hosts from churches in Madrid and Pamploma, used them in a display mocking the Catholic Church, then sold them for over $250,000.

Judge Fermin Otamendi ruled that Azcona could not be prosecuted under a law prohibhiting desecration of sacred objects, because the artists used the “small white round objects” tastefully, without doing anything “disrespectful, offensive, or irreverent.” He said that a secular court could not require non-believers to treat the Eucharist with the respect that the Catholic Church requires.

The Spanish Association of Christian Lawyers has announced plans to appeal, “in the face of what is becoming a campaign of serious offenses against the Christian faith and religious freedom.”

 

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Further information:

• Stealing Hosts for anti-Catholic art? Not illegal, Spanish judge says. (CNA)