Two alleged Eucharistic profanations during the 10:30 Sunday Mass in the central nave of St. Peter’s Basilica have once again raised alarms about the custody of the Most Holy Sacrament in the very heart of the Church. According to the Italian newspaper La Nuova Bussola Quotidiana, a faithful individual would have received several consecrated hosts to distribute them later on his own to other people in the pew, while in a second episode a woman handed the Eucharist to a young girl who had not received it directly from the priest, generating a situation of confusion and risk of irreverence.
The events, which occurred during a celebration presided over by Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, archpriest of the Vatican basilica, do not happen in a vacuum. In recent years, various incidents have been documented in the surroundings of the papal altar and during public celebrations in St. Peter’s, which raises doubts about surveillance during Communion, institutional responsibility, and the necessary measures to prevent the Eucharist from being exposed to abuses, negligences, or deliberately irreverent acts.
A context of repeated incidents
These events add to a series of episodes that have occurred in St. Peter’s Basilica in recent years. In June 2023, a man stripped naked and climbed onto the Altar of the Confession, which necessitated the subsequent celebration of a penitential rite of reparation presided over by Cardinal Gambetti himself. In February 2025, damage to altar candelabras was recorded following the intrusion of an individual, and in October of the same year, images of an obscene act in the surroundings of the papal altar were disseminated.
The repetition of incidents in the principal temple of Christendom has generated concern in various ecclesial circles, especially regarding the need to ensure due respect for the Eucharist in celebrations with a large influx of pilgrims and tourists.
Responsibility and preventive measures
As archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica, Cardinal Mauro Gambetti is the ordinary authority responsible for the administration and functioning of the temple. After the 2023 incident, it was he who presided over the act of reparation, acknowledging the gravity of what had happened. The new episodes raise questions about the effectiveness of surveillance measures, particularly during the moment of Communion.
In this context, the Italian article proposes strengthening supervision during the distribution of the Eucharist and reopens the debate on the manner of receiving Communion as a preventive element against possible abuses.
The precedent of Benedict XVI
The debate that is now reopening around St. Peter’s is not only disciplinary, but also pastoral and liturgical: how to ensure that, in the Church’s most important temple, the Eucharist is treated with the utmost respect and not exposed to negligences or improper actions in large-scale celebrations.
During the pontificate of Benedict XVI, the practice of distributing Communion to the faithful kneeling and on the tongue was consolidated in papal celebrations, a pedagogical gesture of reverence and protection against undue manipulations.
The underlying issue remains the same: to prevent episodes that should be absolutely exceptional from becoming part of the habitual landscape in the heart of the Vatican.