No transubstantiation for you!: I've been pushing this story around in my head for a couple days now.

The Catholic Church is so desperate to make itself relevant that it has to get heavy-handed with the Host. I'm no Biblical scholar, but I do seem to recall Jesus being big on forgiveness. I wonder if McGreevey threw himself into a confessional and admitted to the error of his ways, said a few dozen "Hail Marys", and maybe dropped a few Benjys into the till, whether he'd once again be allowed to partake of the "Body" and the "Blood". I also wonder what the tipping point was for being denied the Eucharist? Was stem cell research okay, but not when you throw in abortion rights as well? What if McG threw in some verbage about how good "The Passion of the Christ" was? Maybe a program banning condoms? It's hard to know the Catholic Calculus anymore.

That's why I went Protestant. The hymns aren't as good (too much starchy Anglo righteousness, not enough bloody devotion, plus you miss the Latin), but at least you can speak your mind without fear of ex-communication.

I suppose that strict religious hierarchies will never completely go out of style, but boy, can you imagine how much the Church must pine for the days when its Word could topple empires (or at least force a king to lop off the heads of his wives)?