NOT since the great “Corpus Crispie” furore of 2008 has so much fuss been generated in the Catholic world over some damned crackers.
What happened this time was that a pair of Muslim journalists in Malaysia, pretending to be pukka biscuit-munchers, entered a Catholic Church to investigate whether Muslim teenagers were being lured into the papist fold.
Taking the biscuit: the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan 'Dumbledore' Williams
The hacks accepted communion wafers, but then spat them out. They then photographed one of the crackers, which had been partly nibbled.
Now the Guardian reports that the magazine which employed the journos – Al Islam – yesterday apologised for upsetting the Catlicks … and Christians in general.
The monthly acknowledged in a statement on its publisher’s website that its article had:
Unintentionally hurt the feelings of Christians, especially Catholics.
Al Islam’s article, published in May last year, said its two reporters had found no evidence of teenagers being converted.
The apology came after Archbishop Murphy Pakiam, who heads the Catholic Church in peninsular Malaysia, criticised government authorities earlier this week for not prosecuting the two men who researched the article. Pakiam, however, said that church leaders would be satisfied if the magazine issued a formal apology.
Attorney General Abdul Gani Patail responded that no charges were filed because the two men committed only “an act of sheer ignorance” without any malicious intention.
The magazine’s statement said it:
Never meant to insult the Christian faith, let alone to disturb or trespass into its house of worship.
It added that its two writers were also sorry and had been unaware that their actions would offend Christians.
Mabel Sabastian, president of Malaysia’s Catholic Lawyers’ Society, said her group accepts the apology and plans to take no further action. It had previously been urging government authorities to act against the magazine.
The apology “gives us some closure,” Sabastian said.
Hat tip: BarrieJohn
The Freethinker was founded in 1881 by GW Foote, an outspoken critic of religion. After the publication of 
March 7th, 2010 at 11:31 am
They didn’t stay for the wine, then?
March 7th, 2010 at 11:52 am
I expect they spat THAT out as well, Brian!
March 7th, 2010 at 12:57 pm
Prosecuted for what exactly? Don’t tell me you can be prosecuted for spitting instead of swallowing in Malaysia, what an absurd idea!
March 7th, 2010 at 1:09 pm
So if they had found teenagers being converted to the zombie wafer cult I assume they would kill them as demanded by islam.
March 7th, 2010 at 2:14 pm
How disappointing that some catholic country can’t raise the same sort of rentacrowd frothing mob that would appear in say Pakistan at this act of ‘blasphemy’. You know the sort of thing, carefully cropped camera scenes (to avoid showing how few are actually there), burning flags, waving fists and shouting.
March 7th, 2010 at 5:12 pm
So they were “unaware” that spitting out a communion wafer was offensive to Catholics?
At least they didn’t try to pee in the collection dish.
March 7th, 2010 at 7:00 pm
Christ chewed up and spat out. Film at 11.
March 7th, 2010 at 7:24 pm
Talk about much ado over nothing.
March 7th, 2010 at 8:12 pm
They are not vegetarians then?
March 8th, 2010 at 12:08 am
Its amazing how fast they will accept the apology from gun and bomb totting infidels!!!
March 8th, 2010 at 12:43 am
I’m amazed – Muslims apologising for pissing off someone else’s superstitions? Has this ever happened before?
March 8th, 2010 at 10:56 pm
That’s not a communion wafer in the photo – at that size it’s actually classed as a poppadom.
Sorry for being pedantic.
March 9th, 2010 at 8:40 am
It looks like a conjuring trick to me, Tony!
“And in the time it takes me to say ‘Nonsense, Rubbish, and Balderdash’ it turns into…THIS”!!
(Well – he IS Dumbledore, after all.)