[This image shows a screenshot captured fro WOMAD website]
SEOUL -- South Korean Catholic church bishops want the punishment of an unholy action by a radical feminist who has uploaded the picture of a piece of partially burned sacramental bread onto her online community.
The picture of sacrilege was posted Tuesday on the website of WOMAD, a community known for radical feminism with vulgar anti-Christian words written on the damaged sacramental bread. The unidentified woman argued the Catholic Church deserves no respect as it opposes abortion.
The sacramental bread symbolizes the body of Jesus Christ in Christian denominations and its desecration is strictly forbidden by Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches.
"The recent case has caused a tremendous and profound shock among religious people including Catholics," the Catholic Bishop's Conference of Korea (CBCK) said in a statement uploaded onto its website on Wednesday. CBCK has ecclesiastical jurisdiction over millions of Catholic Church members in South Korea.
The bishops called for legal punishment, saying they would not tolerate unholy action. They said all religious people should respect different values and prevent similar incidents. WOMAD paints itself as a community advocating misandry and feminism.
Opponents think the group's radical movements are going beyond the boundary of an online satire. Public petitions supporting the shutdown of WOMAD have been filed at the presidential website this week, but the community did not back off. "I don't know why they are so upset. It's only a piece of bread," wrote a WOMAD user.
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
