Posing on the Altar? No Thanks

Petrina Viljoen, Cape Town – At the ripe old age of 91, and having been a practising Catholic all my life, I have never been so horrified as I was sitting for one and a half hours at the service of youngsters receiving their First Communion, in a parish I visited, while I waited to receive Communion myself.

What was taking place appeared to me to be a total farce.

A professional photographer was at the altar taking photos of each child, “posing”, as they first received the Sacred Body, and second as they received the Sacred Blood of Christ.

This was distracting and artificial, with no meaning or sincerity.

It makes me wonder what exactly was going on in each child’s mind? And what future dedication to our Catholic faith would there be?


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