A Florida priest is being investigated for biting the hand of a parishioner during the Sunday Eucharist in an alleged “attempt to defend Communion,” according to the affidavit of the case, cited this Friday by American media.

The incident occurred on May 19 at the Church of Saint Thomas Aquinas in the city of St. Cloud, south of Orlando. According to ‘CNN’, during the morning mass the priest Fidel Rodríguez He refused to give Communion to a woman because she had not confessed.

Apparently, the priest blessed the woman and advised her to “receive the sacrament of Penance (confession) before receiving the Holy Eucharist,” the Diocese of Orlando explained in a statement. However, the woman did not confess and she returned for midday mass, and when she went to receive Communion, Father Rodríguez asked her again if she had confessed, and she responded that “it was not her business.” ” her. At that moment, the woman reached into the Communion tray, picked up the hosts and began to break them, and a struggle occurred in which the parishioner pushed the priest and he bit her hand.

Following the incident, the Diocese defended Father Rodríguez’s actions: “While the Diocese of Orlando does not tolerate physical altercations such as this, in good faith, Father Rodríguez was simply trying to avoid an act of desecration of Holy Communion, which, as a priest, he is obliged to protect,” they said in a statement.

Father Rodriguez admitted what happened to the police and said he was acting in self-defense. For her part, the woman refused to receive medical attention and authorities photographed the bite mark, according to court documents cited by ‘CNN’. St. Cloud police have sent the case to the Florida Attorney’s Office to decide whether to charge the priest.