Florida priest accused of biting woman during communion dispute

A priest could face charges after he allegedly bit a woman during a dispute over the Holy Communion at a Florida church.

The alleged incident happened Sunday at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in St. Cloud, less than 30 miles south of Orlando.

According to a St. Cloud Police report, the incident happened during Mass. The woman told police that when she went to receive communion, the priest allegedly refused because he claimed she hadn't performed the prerequisite of Confession required by the Catholic Church to receive the Eucharist.

When the woman responded that she had done so, the priest became upset and she said he tried to ram the communion wafer into her mouth, according to the report.

She said she then placed her hand in the vessel and tried to grab another wafer, "crushing them," the report said. The priest allegedly struggled with the woman, "who refused to let go," and that's when the priest "bit her hand so she would let go."

In an interview with police captured on body camera video, the priest can be heard saying the woman attacked him first.

"She pushed me and grabbed, and I have the bowl with the holy host, for us is sacred, and she grabbed all the hosts in her hands because she wants to receive for herself, which is not permitted," the priest explained.

He admitted to biting the woman's arm after he said she wouldn't let go of the communion tray.

The Diocese of Orlando said the priest responded in a way that was aimed "to protect the Holy Communion from this sacrilegious act."

"While the Diocese of Orlando does not condone physical altercations such as this, in good faith, Father Rodriguez was simply attempting to prevent an act of desecration of the Holy Communion," it said.

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

The priest hasn't been arrested, but the woman said she plans on pressing charges.

The police department turned information over to the state attorney's office for review.