Riot police break up protesters' Mass Fr Mun, who was presiding over Mass at the gates of a controversial new naval base site on Jeju Island (Korea), was knocked to the ground while administering communion. It is claimed that a policeman also trod on the Eucharist. Cheju diocese has demanded an official apology after about 20 riot police disrupted the Mass, when clearing a path for a cement truck to enter the construction site of a controversial new naval base. Father John Ko Buyeong-soo, president of Cheju diocese’s Committee for Justice and Peace, visited the site shortly after the disturbance, and he told ucanews.com that he would demand an explanation and an apology from police. “To step on or damage the Eucharist is an insult to Catholics,” he said. The Jeju Provincial Police Agency yesterday issued a press statement in which it denied any wrongdoing. But Cheong Seon-nyo, head of the Gangjeong mission station, told ucanews.com yesterday that she was with Fr Mun when the incident occurred. “I clearly saw a policeman step on the Eucharist that had fallen to the ground,” she said. The construction of the naval base on Jeju island, which will become home to a new fleet of 20 warships and other vessels, has sparked vigorous protests from local residents, environmental activists and religious leaders.
My God, I believe, I adore, I love, and I trust Thee,.. I ask pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not love, and do not trust Thee These are sad times indeed, God bless that poor persecuted priest!
You chose a most appropriate prayer, Amen. However, I'm wondering why Mass was be celebrated smack in front of the gates to the naval base. Was the Mass being used as a blockade? If so, I don't agree with that. The holy Mass should be planned in a way that strives to prevent interruption or degradation. The location of the this Mass seems to have been chosen precisely to stir up trouble . . . which it did.
Yes the mass is not a protest vehicle. The Eucharist should not have been endangered. They could jsut have said the rosary.
