You’ve got to admit: it is something of an achievement from the NCRV. They’ve managed to reply to the open letter sent to them by a number of Catholic bloggers, clergy and other people (including myself), while avoiding to actually mention any of the points of concern raised in the letter.
No mention of the three ways of sacrilege: using the Eucharist as a form of protest, taken the Host outside and threatening to throw it in a waste bin. No mention of the NCRV’s Christian origin, which made the TV-item all the more bitter. No mention of the unsatisfactory automated e-mail sent to all those who took the trouble to complain. No mention of even trying to acknowledge the Catholic faith, and the central position of the Eucharist in it.
Instead, we got this:
Following our item ‘Holy Host’ there have been protests from Roman Catholic quarters. The NCRV is pleased to reply to the open letter she received today (15 March 2010):
Man Bijt Hond is a lightly satirical program. With a smile and a tear it magnifies items in the news. The intention is to stimulate and trigger discussion. That, after all, is part of satire.
The (renewed) discussion about the position of practising homosexual people in the church lead to a violent demonstration [this was not the reason for the open letter]. And one thing was clear: the demonstration in the church of Den Bosch was painful for the church, but she was equally painful for the homosexual faithful involved [who started it, I might add]. For the editors of Man Bijt Hond this was cause to pay attention to it, in her own recognisable way.
The NCRV also has other programs which paid attention to this topic [which is totally beside the point]. In the radio show Schepper & Co, for example, there was an extensive discussion between Henk Krol, chief editor of the Gaykrant and presenter Yvo van der Goot, about the place of homosexual faithful in the church [I repeat, not the point of the open letter]. In such a conversation there is obviously space to shed light on multiple aspects on a question like this. All this in the hope of doing people justice, despite their sexual orientation [Once more, not the point of the letter. And desecrating the Eucharist is the opposite of doing anyone justice].
Equality and tolerance are important principles for the NCRV which can be seen in our programs, in each their own way [Except when that equality and tolerance should be towards Catholics, of course].
I am amazed. The letter wasn’t hard or difficult, but they still manage to totally miss the point. NCRV, congratulations, you have lost viewers. Wow.
But at least this time we got a reply without spelling errors.
In Caelo et in Terra 
I’m not surprised they cooked up this response. Of course they did understand what the letter was about. Everyone with basic reading skills does. It’s simply they couldn’t care less about it. And therefore they didn’t mention it. They are Dutch, therefore they are very self-righteous. They will never admit they did something they shouldn’t have done.
It’s also why I didn’t bother to sign it: even if they would made an apology, it wouldn’t be heartfelt. What use does an apology make if the one apologizing doesn’t mean anything with it? I’d rather pray for inner conversion and for the return of respect in Dutch society.
They wouldn’t have done this in a synagogue, because they would have been called ‘anti-semitist’ or fascist. They wouldn’t have done it in a mosque, because they would fear a fatwa. Instead they pick on Christians, knowing we will turn the other cheek.
I wasn’t really expecting a turn of heart, but an acknowledgement of the hurt inflicted would have been nice. I am glad, however, that the Catholic voice has been heard. In a very small way, perhaps, but it’s a start.
It’s good to see that a fair number of people refused to sit idly by when the Eucharist is desecrated. Be it through prayer or through letters, at least people spoke up.