MANILA, March 29 -- An official of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said the student who made the consecrated host a subject of his food review may face excommunication.

Fr. Jerome Secillano, executive secretary of the CBCP Public Affairs Committee, said Wednesday the Canon Law provides the penalty of excommunication for sacrilegious acts.

"It's a form of sacrilege. You have to atone for that. In the Church, there is excommunication regarding (such acts). The Church is very clear on that. That's canonically provided. There is a provision in the Canon Law. If there is a total disrespect to a sacred specie, it is latae sententiae, which means automatic excommunication," Secillano said.

Under the Canon Law, a per...