A worldwide furor erupted over a listing on Etsy that claimed to be selling “Real Catholic Hosts, consecrated by a priest.” Thanks to quick action by the faithful, the listing was removed and Etsy has confirmed that it was posted in violation of its policy.
The Catholic News Agency (CNA) is reporting on the listing which was posted on the e-commerce site by an account called “Pentagora.” The seller claimed to have a package of nine hosts that had been consecrated by a priest in Germany which were offered “to abuse for classic black fairs or black magic purposes.”
Once spotted, notice quickly spread across social media along with demands for the deletion of the account. Not only did the faithful want the hosts removed from the site, but they also demanded an acknowledgement from Etsy that the sales of these items is in violation of their policy. The company claims to prohibit the sale of items that “support or glorify hatred toward people or otherwise demean people based upon: race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, gender identity, disability, or sexual orientation.”
At first, the only action taken by Etsy was to mark the listing as “Sold Out” and then to delete it entirely.
The faithful continued with their demands and launched a Change.org petition to continue to pressure Etsy about its policy and make sure that Catholic beliefs would be respected in the future.
The hosts as they appeared on Etsy.
“Catholics believe that Consecrated Hosts are truly the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ,” the petition reads. “It is the most precious thing in our religion. It is given freely, and so the only reason anyone could ever have to sell it would by definition be illicit. To sell them ‘for abuse’ is hateful against the Catholic Church, and should be prohibited by Etsy.”
The petition, which gained over 9,000 signatures, won a response from Jess Kallberg, policy manage for Etsy, who responded on May 14 by confirming that “the reselling of consecrated hosts is a violation of our policies.”
Etsy does not pre-approve items before they are listed on the site, and relies on the seller to insure that their listing does not violate the company’s policy. Although they have “specialized teams” that take action when an offending item is found, vigilance is still needed.
“We strongly encourage anyone who sees an item that violates our policies to submit a flag by clicking the ‘Report this item to Etsy’ link at the bottom of the listing.”
May God bless whoever first saw this listing and alerted the proper authorities and let us keep remember to keep in prayer those who participate in the desecration of Our Lord’s Body and Blood.
O Sacrament Most Holy, O Sacrament Divine, all praise and all thanksgiving, be every moment Thine.
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