Florida priest accused of biting woman in church during mass. Here’s what happened

Florida, over the years, has become synonymous with the weird antics of its residents. In the latest peculiar news stories from the US state: A priest has been accused of biting a woman.

Why did the priest bite the woman?

The priest, as per CNN, has been identified as Father Fidel Rodriguez. Reportedly, the priest while giving out Communion during a mass in St. Cloud city bit the woman while 'defending' the Communion bread.

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Father Rodriguez, according to the police, initially refused to give the woman Communion bread on May 19. Instead, he told her, "she did not do the prior steps necessary" to receive the Communion.

He "advised her to receive the Sacrament of Penance (Confession) before coming back to receive Holy Communion (Eucharist)", said the Diocese of Orlando in a statement.

The woman, in her affidavit, said that she returned to the church for the noon mass and informed the priest that she had done the necessary steps and was now "accepted by God, thus, granting her the ability to participate in communion".

However, as per the statement from the Diocese, the priest asked her if she "had been to the Sacrament of Penance (Confession), to which she stated it was not his business."

Upon this, the woman told the police, he (the priest) "became upset and tried to ram the 'cookie' in her mouth".

She then tried to grab another Communion bread, but the priest grabbed her and bit her arm.

The diocese contends that "Father Rodriguez offered the woman Holy Communion on the tongue. At that point, the woman forcefully placed her hand in the vessel and grabbed some sacred Communion hosts, crushing them."

"Having only one hand free, Father Rodriguez struggled to restrain the woman as she refused to let go of the hosts. When the woman pushed him and reacting to a perceived act of aggression, Father Rodriguez bit her hand so she would let go of the hosts she grabbed," it adds.

The priest in a statement to the police said the woman had pushed him and "would not let go of the communion tray, and the only way he thought to extract her from it was to bite her arm."

Slamming the woman for calling Communion "cookie," the diocese said, "In the Catholic Tradition, the Eucharist is considered 'the source and summit' of worship and faith. The act of participation in Holy Communion therefore calls for a proper understanding, reverence, and devotion.".

"It is not something a person can arbitrarily demand and is certainly not a mere 'cookie', as the complainant called it."

(With inputs from agencies)