Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas, has filed a motion for the return of the Eucharist, a consecrated host and consecrated wine a satanic group claims to have stolen, with the archbishop stating that all sacred species are the property of the Catholic Church. Court documents show that on March 14, Archbishop Naumann filed a petition in federal district court to recover the Eucharist under state laws governing the return of wrongfully taken or held personal property.
This legal action occurs in anticipation of a satanic black mass scheduled to take place outdoors on the Kansas state capitol grounds on March 28. The procedure of a satanic mass typically requires the desecration of a consecrated host taken from a Catholic Church; thus, any host present in a black mass is consequentially property stolen from the Church. According to the Archdiocese of Kansas City, representatives of the satanist group have contacted them directly to confirm that they have possession of the stolen sacrament.
The Church teaches that upon consecration at Mass, the substance of the bread and wine offerings becomes the substance of Jesus Christ – body, blood, soul, and divinity – while still retaining the appearances of bread and wine. It is precisely this transubstantiative property of the sacrament that makes Catholic hosts the target of disrespect at the hands of satanists.
The court held a hearing on the matter on March 20 and will presumably make a decision on the issue prior to March 28, when the black mass is scheduled to occur.
Further details regarding the Bishop’s lawsuit can be found here at the St. Louis Review website.