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1. Stealing chalices for sacrilegious purposes is pretty serious.
   
   But holy water? I thought holy water was supposed to ward off evil spirits, not attract them.
   
   Maybe it depends on the intentions of the person using it.

   Posted By: Lance Eccles

2. Actually I think Fr Palombi is the secret owner of a flower shop (less attention than a live-in mistress) and wants to lift sales by substituting flowers in place of holy water.
   
   If he is multi-skilled, as no doubt Italian priests have to be these days since Rome took over running everything in sight, he might also be the mayor of the little backwater town of Fiumicino and so wants to attract as many tourists as possible.
   
   While they are wandering around Santa Maria Stella Maris (seawater!) they could also be offered discount copies, blessed by the Pope of course, of one of Dan Brown's reads on satanic rituals. Just holy water? What about candles (though most churches in Italy seem to have converted to battery powered light in deference to the frescoes!) or consecrated hosts - or why not everything in sight? Those who enjoy a good satanic ritual now and then are very inventive!
   
   The best yawn I've had for ages - beats the news of the latest dull doings of the hierarchy here and abroad!

   Posted By: Richard Flynn

3. How silly! How can holy water be used in anything Satanic? It is always used for Exorcism! You can't have it both ways. I should imagine holy water is the LAST thing a Satanist would want to touch!!
   

   Posted By: Stanley J. Harris

4. The devil hates Holy Water as St. Teresa tells us, so why wouldn't it be good to let these unfortunate people have holy water? It's a pity to deprive Catholics of this sacramental.

   Posted By: Anne Boyce

5. Oh dear... I don't believe Catholics would join in their hocus pocus scare. What idiots.

   Posted By: TJ Lawson

6. What, one can't get holy water but one can receive Our Lord in one's hand? As ludicrous as taking holy water away, let's hope it will lead to some sanity.

   Posted By: katie

7. Blessed water?
   I believed that the worst thing the Devil would have to undergo was to fall in the font. Huh?

   Posted By: jacques

8. At the very least, couldn't someone stand there with a bowl while people enter so they can bless themselves? Then the bowl the person is holding can be placed somewhere "safe". But I must agree with others here, Holy Water is used to ward of evil, so how could it be used for something that glorifies evil?

   Posted By: AnnieK.

9. The power of the Holy Water will do good and not add to evil It is a sacramental - by using sacramentals like Holy Water we are using the prayer of the Church - To stop using Holy Water only helps evil = What people should be doing is drenching themselves, their Families, their Homes, their Streets with sacrementals = fear of the use of Holy Water in evil worship does not add to evil Holiness defeats evil - I say use holy water and increase using Holy water and all the sacramentals - and above all pray the Holy Rosary it is the scourge of the Devil = so attack evil with your sacramentals and above all Pray Pray Pray the Holy Rosary to do otherwise is admitting defeat = Ask Our Holy Mother She is Our Commander and Loves a Challenge = Good always wins =God bless

   Posted By: Black

10. I think it is more important that the faithful have use of Sacramentals to defend themselves from the Satanic influence and it would be Satan's glee to see it held back from Christ's people.

    Posted By: Laurie

11. Fear is sin, for a priest to fear Holy Water used any way than for blessings, is absurd.
    I think an exorcist priest in Rome should pay a visit to this parish, and we should pray for this pastor and all of our priests.

    Posted By: JOHN

12. Taking away sacramentals because they can be misused is like throwing out the baby with the bath water. Work out better security and oversite. I bet the Satanists are laughing at how easy this is to manipulate. Communion is also stolen because they don't place on the tongue anymore. I suppose they'll stop giving eucharist rather than place on the tongue. How obtuse.

    Posted By: t gehan

13. Doesn't it give the devil more of a foothold to take Holy Water away from laypeople who need it?

    Posted By: Suzanne

14. I agree with Ann Boyce's comments below.
    
    Holy water sets the devils to flight like many of the saints have told. St. Teresa of Avila was is considered a Doctor of the church . I think the Pope should tell him this Father to put the Holy Water back IMMEDIATELY.
    
    Depriving the parishoners of this important sacramental is a disgrace. What will flower pedals do to help the parishioners? Nothing! Is this man a real priest?
    
    Put the Holy water back. He's only helping the devil by not providing any!
    

    Posted By: USA

15. Yeah, it seems to me that withholding holy water does more harm than good. Wouldn't it be better to increase the availability / amount of holy water?
    
    Perhaps satanists are sacreligiously defacing it. Maybe a temporary dry spell is appropriate.

    Posted By: Chauffeur

16. I am shocked that any parish would deprive its parishioners of the powerful sacramental, Holy Water. I have a font at my door and none of my family leaves without fortifying themselves to face the evil outside without blessing themselves with Holy Water. Another ploy to deprive us of one of our armaments.

    Posted By: Joyce Bogovic

17. This is just completely way over the top like if we were not all fighting enough demons in our lives already, now they want to take away some of the things that help us to ward off evil. This is just another ploy of the enemy to keep us all in bondage,
    priests have been scared off by the devil in one way or another he has tied their hands with fear so they don't know the authority they have in Jesus Christ. How sad for the church and how terrifying for the rest of us. While we're at it, lets remove all sacramentals too, starting with saints, all medals and the scapular too, let's just let satan have a field day with us - it looks like we are heading in that direction already anyways.

    Posted By: Luz

18. I suspect they are using the Holy Water to desecrate it. I have heard same is done with the Eucharist.

    Posted By: Jim

19. Rubbish!Fiddlesticks!Holy Water with blessed salt is anathema to satan. Read Fr.Amorth - on excorcism and the Blessed Mother at Medjugorje advocates blessed objects and Holy Water to be used frequently as a protection against evil.The priest is misinformed.

    Posted By: Moira cross

20. This is the WRONG approach. Properly blessed Holy Water is a powerful protection from evil spirits for the worshippers and should never ever be removed from Churches (except Good Friday). It protects the worshippers from many temptations.
    
    It isn't normal for someone into the occult to steal Holy Water, is it? I thought they'd more likely profane it in the church secretly.
    

    Posted By: Kathryn Schutz

21. Re: German Orphans. There was a lot that happened to American orphans as well. In Kentucky in the 40's and 50's as well, much abuse occurred. My family was in one such home. An older sister was attacked by a worker. She was hurt physically but more psychologically as the worker was not fired and she was sent to the "Good Shepherd School (for wayward girls). I did not find out about this until the 90's as my sisters hid it from me. I was told they were closing the ophanage slowly and this is why it was done.
    
    This sister, eventually graduated high school, went to work, had two children outside of marriage. I helped her to give them up for adoption. They eventually found her. Her one marriage failed and she has not practised the Catholic faith since she was in her teens. She is bitter against the Catholic church and has a rather red-neck version of how it is instead of the loving church I know it can be. I have to share her disdain for the people who ran that orphanage in those days. Five disfunctional souls emerged. Some did better than others but all suffered in various ways here. I think the above sister, Rosie, suffered the most. There will never be an apology, the place shut down long ago but God has kept his counsel and I imagine one day this will be revealed and taken care of in ways that God alone can devise.
    
    Praise be Jesus Christ!
    
    Marilyn Murphy
    
    Sincerely
    
    Marilyn Murphy

    Posted By: Marilyn Murphy

22. Something smells! It's like saying we won't put out food for the poor because thieves will steal it. Perhaps those who misuse the holy water will think about the power it has and convert to the true Faith!

    Posted By: Kathleenmary

23. What if people were blessed with holy water by someone upon entrance to Mass?

    Posted By: CJ Allen

24. I don't understand the removal of Holy Water from the Church - as one comment stated, Satan and the evil ones hate Holy Water. What happens to the faithful who wish to bless themselves to protect themselves against attacks of evil, or wish to have Holy Water for their homes? He seems to want to leave people defenceless or is that the real reason for removing a very potent sacramental from the hands of the FAITHFUL?

    Posted By: mariam

25. Thank you both for choosing LIFE for all of your children.
    May God continue to bless your lives every day.
    Congratulations.

    Posted By: Sheila

26. Could we please have an informed authoritative comment posted here to explain the rightness or wrongness of this decision? Currently I am siding with 'depriving parishoners of a sacramental used in exorcism is wrong'.

    Posted By: Johm Manion

27. Is there a conspiracy by liberal minded Catholics to do away with Sacramentals? Holy Water represents the Blood of Jesus which wards off evil!

    Posted By: Adriana Renaud

28. I don't understand why Holy Water would be wanted for satanic rituals. Holy Water is said to be most powerful AGAINST the infernal spirits. They HATE Holy Water. And Holy Water is essential in our churches. It should never go without. St. Teresa of Avila couldn't comment enough about the power of Holy Water to repel the demons.

    Posted By: Diane Evans

29. Sorry, but it seems to me , that the devil would like to deprive us from using the holy water upon entering the church. Clever.

    Posted By: Tina Sullivan

30. The actions of Fr. Palombi are not only senseless, but are not allowed by the Church. Holy water is a weapon against evil, and bearing that in mind it would make sense to allow a satanist to use it. Unlike desecrating the Eucharist, how would one desecrate holy water???

    Posted By: Tony

31. Leave the holy water.... just the fact a person involved in a 'black mass' (satanic mass) uses the water is an acknolowdgement of the fact it is holy water... maybe His his power and that He exists as He is always calling them to him.

    Posted By: Lis

32. I suggest that the Priest use the powerful and complete exorcism prayer for salt and water and set this trap for the satanists; let us not forget that the Holy Spirit is our Commander in Chief and not some conterfeiter; the devil is a creature like us with supernatural powers that are limited by our Commander in Chief; leave the blessed water, I believe our ground troops need the armour. Our Blessed Mother wears combat boots, and if she is not scared neither should we be. No guts no glory, not pain not gain, no cross no crown. Lead, follow or get out of the way, she sheep are coming against th wolves; who said spiritual warfare was easy? Buckle up and Pray Pray Pray and keep a lot of holy water and blessed salt around for soul to soul combat...ya'lll

    Posted By: James the catholic

33. It is ridiculous to remove the Holy Water completely, that makes no sense. I have seen churches where they put a large sponge in the Holy Water font and fill the sponge with Holy Water. This will not be stolen, because if they do it will run out of the sponge and they won't be able to take the water with them. The thing they are most after is a consecrated Host, which we believe is the Body and Blood of Jesus. They need that in order to have a satanic Mass.

    Posted By: Anita

34. I feel that the priest should leave the holy water in the basins. Satan will never be comfortable in the presence of holy water and the eucharist. People might misuse them but they will gain nothing from their efforts.

    Posted By: M. Lyons

35. I remember a question posed to Fr. John Hardon about this subject years ago, when someone asked if it is right for these churches to be removing holy water from the fonts during lent and replacing them with sand.....Fr. Hardon's answer was an EMPHATIC "no."
    The sacramentals he explained are precisely available to us to strengthen us spiritually against evil and should never be removed except of course during the prescribed Good Friday tradition.
    I don't want to judge this priest without knowing, but I hope he isn't of the ilk that decides for everyone that holy water is an outdated "superstitious" tradition. Pray for him. He was wrong to do this.

    Posted By: Brigette Pietro

36. After reading this article and the responses, I am really astonished. And I agree with the comments. This world is becoming so evil, and so depraved that we Catholics need all the help we can get. Depriving the people in that parish of holy water is just one more action that is truly out of line. I cannot imagine not having holy water in the church. And, regardless of the possible theft of holy water, that priest needs to get the flowers out of there and replace the holy water.
    
    We Catholics are being hit from all sides and we don't need to be hit from our own fearful priests.

    Posted By: Sandra Kemper

37. I bless Holy Water as well as salt, then pour the blessed salt into the Holy Water.
    
    It would be interesting to see the result of anyone stealing that Holy Water to use in Satanic Rites.
    
    Demons would howl, and I'm not sure what would happen to the satanists themselves. Who knows, perhaps conversions.
    
    

    Posted By: Fr. Joseph

38. Before we criticize this priest, we should ask an exorcist what happens at a satanic mass and if/ why holy water is used. Is not the Holy Eucharist stolen for such purposes also? One would think that satan would flee from Jesus under the appearance of bread, but consecrated Hosts are stolen for desecration.
    
    Maybe someone/some priest can educate us.
    

    Posted By: Rosanna

39. Wouldn't this deprive the parishioners of Holy Water, and thus make them more susceptible to the devil's influence? Hopefully the priest is sprinkling the parishioners with Holy Water each week at mass.

    Posted By: b t

40. Regarding people's requests for an authoritative answer as to whether or not the holy water should have been removed, and how holy water might be used in satanic rituals, I can't give one, but can offer what I've heard knowledgable people say, and also a bit of speculation.
    
    Sacramentals and the body of Christ are used, or rather abused, in rites of desecration intended to mock God. The only effect that would have, of course, is to push the desecrators further away from Him, which is where they think they want to be, poor souls.
    
    The thought of anyone desecrating anything connected to our Lord and Saviour should be an anathema, of course, and we should take reasonable precautions to protect sacred objects and substances from those who seek to abuse them. This is why a priest I once heard of back in the days when communion whas still only given on the tongue had people chase a guy who who tried to steal one of the hosts by taking it out of his mouth and putting it in his hand as he turned away from the priest.
    
    Fr. Palombi, at a guess, is simply trying to offer our Lord the same protection. I don't think he's chosen the best course of action, but I think his intentions are good, and his aims correct.

    Posted By: Paul Keen

41. AS GK CHESTERTON SAID: TAKE AWAY THE HOLY, AND WHAT DO YOU HAVE LEFT - WATER - HOLY WATER AS A SACRAMENTAL IS USED TO WARD OFF EVIL - GOD WILL NOT BE MOCKED!

    Posted By: ELLEN

42. Well now by doing this the Devil wins and the good people go without Protection! Put the Holy Water BACK Please for the good people. Soon enough the Devil will have all objects that are Holy removed and begin his attacks on God's People.

    Posted By: Sherri

43. The increase of satanic cults and demonic activity upholds the need for holy water. Why would they take Holy Water out of Church when people are in need of the graces and sacramental benefits of using holy water? Makes little sense. What's next, removing the Blessed Sacrament?

    Posted By: Joe

44. Perhaps the faithful are coming to the church and filling little containers to take back to their homes and families??

    Posted By: vance rider

45. They use the holy water to bless each other of course, hello?!
    Oh God, this is just pathetic, who cares...
    God is so beyond getting 'hurt', could people just lay off the theology of 'hocus pocus', Catholics or Satanist, it is so last century.
    They're people dying daily of violence and starvation, do something in your life that could change that REAL EVIL of Wars, Violence and Conflict (mainly done by people of ‘God’ by the way) and all these people on this blog can worry about is how the 'holy' water is being used, oh For God's sake...get a life with perspective.

    Posted By: TJ Lawson

46. People. The issue isn't the Catholic Church being a bunch of superstitious idiots (T.J. Lawson)
    
    It is the concern for what is holy getting desecrated!!
    
    Suffice to say, if the Satanists decided to steal consecrated hosts and feed them to the pigs as part of their ritual...I'm gathering you'd have no problem with that T.J. Lawson...right?

    Posted By: Joe

47. People need to remember that the devil is not a rival for God in power. God's power is infinite and the devil only acts through God's permissive will.
    Of course they should keep the holy water.
    What they should do, as they did during the Reformation, is have someone stationed in the sacristy, to protect the Blessed Sacrament and the holy objects associated with the Mass.

    Posted By: Therese

48. You afraid that Jesus is going to get hurt?
    Fair enough, you want to protect the ‘Sacred’, but the only desecration they are really doing is to their own humanity, their conscience and the ‘Sacred’ they’re violating is the one they can’t even produce. I mean… seriously, they’re wackos, don’t act like them.

    Posted By: TJ Lawson

49. Satanists are probably using the holy water in squirt guns to combat their rival satanist groups. And those holy water balloons are a real disaster for a cluster of knife wielding witches holding a seance.

    Posted By: Willie

50. They might as well deny parishioners the Eucharist as well, since that could be used in a Satanic ceremony too. And why not stop printing Bibles, so that Satanists can't defile or burn them or all of the other evil things they love it do? In fact- if Satanists are simply just reverse Christians driven purely by rebellion like they say- why not just dissolve the entire Catholic church so that Satanists have nothing to rebel against?

    Posted By: Ingrid White

51. I'm pleased to see that so many people have no idea how satanic rituals work. A satanist would want the holy water to DESECRATE it. We are taught that holy water in a font can be extended by adding "plain" water as needed, provided that the amount added does not exceed the quantity of the ORIGINAL amount. By this token therefore, to desecrate it, a larger amount of, shall we say "unholy water", would be added. This act would make it a sacrifice to satan's honour. And I hope I don't have to actually explain what a satanist considers "unholy water".
    
    While the church must always be vigilant against desecration, I do think that removing access to the font is extreme. I like the idea given below of a member of the clergy or a lay person perhaps "standing guard" over a portable source of water that can then be secured in a safe place during the mass.
    
    If someone wishes some for "home use", that becomes problematic, and I don't see a simple solution. Obviously, a member of the congregation known to the clergy to be a true church member would be "safe", but in a large parish, how can one vouch for everyone who walks in the door?

    Posted By: Rev. R. Chance

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