San José, Costa Rica, Feb 9, 2010 / 13:07 pm
In a statement released yesterday following the “disrespectful treatment” of the Eucharist by Deborah Formal, girlfriend of Costa Rican presidential candidate Otto Guevara, the local archbishop clarified that the despite the offensiveness of the act, it did not constitute a sacrilege.
Instead of consuming the Eucharist at a Sunday Mass last weekend attended by the country's presidential candidates, Formal placed a small piece of the consecrated host inside the shirt pocket of Guevara.
Formal explained her actions saying, “Upon receiving Communion I asked the archbishop if I could share the blessing with Otto. I misunderstood what he said to me and I tried to do something that would allow Otto to carry a part of God in his heart.”
“It was never my intention to disrespect the Catholic Church,” she said.