“To not be able to receive communion at this most difficult time is very hard on people," says Fr Kevin McNamara, PP of Moyvane, Co. Kerry.

"The degree of offence may have been minimised if the presenter had demonstrated greater sensitivity to the potential for offence,” stated the BAI.

Fr Ahern embodies the spirit of the expression ‘lán de cheol’/‘full of music’ literally and metaphorically, says Professor Pádraig Ó Macháin, UCC.

The presence of Our Lord in the Eucharist has long been a part of Catholic Church teaching, but the doctrine of transubstantiation can provoke eccumenical sensitivities.