An ostia is the the body of Christ and the Catholic faithful should receive it with respect, an official of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said. CBCP Public Affairs Committee Executive Secretary Fr. Jerome Secillano made the reminder after it was reported that a student from Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU) Senior High School allegedly pocketed an ostia or the communion bread to conduct a food review. Secillano reminded the faithful that the ostia is “not just an ordinary food, it is the body of Christ.” “The churches are catechizing their faithful regarding the sacredness of the host, therefore they need to show reverence to it,” he said in a phone interview with reporters. “But then again even if we educate, there are really bad people out there who would try to, I don’t know, play ignorant or may be fool as to actually do things that are not in accord with the teachings of the Church,” he added. “If these people will not listen to us, it defeats the purpose of everything. So there are teachers, there are speakers, there are educators, but there are also students. If the students would not actually heed what the teachers are telling them, so, wala din mangyayari (nothing will happen),” he furthered. Secillano said that “if there is a total disrespect to a sacred specie” the faithful may face excommunication—the act that refuses a person to be involved in the church. “In the church, there is excommunication regarding that one. But the excommunication should  be meted out. It is the bishop who can actually do the excommunication,”  he said. The AdMU Senior High School has temporarily suspended the celebration of Mass on the campus following the incident. “On their part, as an institution they made reparations already, closed their churches, no more sacraments for the time being. That is part of atonement, atoning for it,” said Secillano. “But that is only for a period of time. But when it comes to the guy, to the student, that I don’t know what they did,” he added.