07 December 2010

Is there a fake Mass wine going around?

There are reports coming in from parishes in the diocese about suspicious Mass wines going around. The suspicion particularly refers to the new batch of Mompo Mass Wines, arguably the most popular brand in the Philippines, and in many places, the only available one.

For good measure, we compared the new and the old. See the picture on the left. The new one tastes different, the liquid looks lighter, the bottle is a bit taller and more slender, and the labelling is markedly different as well. Not surprisingly suspicions are raised as to whether the new Mompo adheres to the standards of proper Mass wines.

Some parish priests have already given instructions not to use them at Mass on the possibility that they may be fake, thus risk compromising the integrity of the sacrament. In order to shed some light on the matter, we gathered pertinent Church regulations on Mass wines.

From the Code of Canon Law:
Can. 924 §3. The wine must be natural from the fruit of the vine and not spoiled.

From the General Instruction on the Roman Missal:
322. The wine for the eucharistic celebration must be from the fruit of the grapevine (cf. Lk 22:18), natural, and unadulterated, that is, without admixture of extraneous substances.
323. Diligent care should be taken to ensure that the bread and wine intended for the Eucharist are kept in a perfect state of conservation: that is, that the wine does not turn to vinegar nor the bread spoil or become too hard to be broken easily.

So, by these standards, is the new Mompo a fake or merely a different vintage? We have not been able to contact its local distributor. Anybody who can help us solve the mystery?

2 comments:

  1. Hi this is the producer,

    Of course is not fake wine, we improved not just the look but the content as well ;)
    feel free to contact me if you have any questions here: jamompo@me.com

    happy pope´s visit

    ReplyDelete
  2. by the way could you write that is not fake wine and that the mystery is resolved please, thank you!!!!

    ReplyDelete