According to some, Christianity is in vogue.

A recent New York Times article, for example, called attention to the fact that “necklaces with cross pendants are appearing with renewed prevalence” on “red carpets, on social media, at protests by high-ranking Democrats and in the White House.”

To make fun of the practice is nothing short of sacrilege.

But even celebrities donning cross necklaces are not enough to convince mainstream television producers that the world’s largest religious group deserves the same basic respect as any other religion or worldview.

Episode six of the popular Apple TV+ show “Your Friends & Neighbors” shamelessly depicts characters desecrating the Eucharist — what Catholics believe is the very body of Christ – inside a Catholic church. The depiction reeks of intolerance and insult toward Catholicism, and it has no place being produced and promoted by Apple, a company that claims diversity and inclusion as core values.

The least Apple should do is issue a formal apology to viewers. Even better, the company should retract the episode in keeping with its tolerance policies.

Catholic or not, viewers can tell that the scene in question bears little relevance to the show’s plot, making it nothing more than a mean-spirited and targeted attempt to mock Catholicism. In the scene, two main characters break into a Catholic church, steal consecrated hosts from the tabernacle, eat them as snacks, and profane the Eucharist before engaging in sexual activity in the pews.

Despite how Apple inappropriately portrays it, the Eucharist is far from a mere piece of bread or meaningless cup of wine.

Catholics believe that it is the body, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ himself. The practice of receiving communion was instituted by Christ at the Last Supper, and since then, receiving his body at Mass is “the source and summit of the Christian life.”

To make fun of the practice is nothing short of sacrilege.

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What’s more, Apple’s affront comes at a time when Catholics are in a celebratory and hopeful frame of mind following the recent election of our new pope, Leo XIV.

It is also deeply disturbing that Apple would go so far as to break its own commitment to “a North Star of dignity, respect, and opportunity for everyone,” as its mission statement reads. The company claims its values “create a culture of collaboration where different experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives come together to make something magical and meaningful. ... We’re not all the same. And that remains one of our greatest strengths.”

But promoting content that degrades the Catholic faith directly violates this principle. It also directly contradicts Apple CEO Tim Cook’s self-proclaimed “reverence for religious freedom.” Cook explained in a 2015 opinion editorial that “Apple is open. Open to everyone, regardless of where they come from, what they look like, how they worship or who they love.”

Unfortunately, Apple’s blasphemy is part of a nationwide targeting of Catholicism that has permeated our culture, even while influencers adorn themselves in Christian jewelry.

Since 2020, more than 500 Catholic churches have suffered physical attacks and vandalism including acts of arson, spray-painting and graffiti of satanic messages, rocks and bricks thrown through windows, and statues destroyed. Likewise, in 2024, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer released a video of herself placing a Dorito chip on Canadian journalist Liz Plank’s tongue as if to mimic a Catholic priest administering communion. After pushback from offended Catholics, Whitmer issued an apology.

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Now, faithful Catholics are calling on Apple to remove its blasphemous episode of “Your Friends & Neighbors” from its platform and return to its guiding principle of diversity and tolerance for all perspectives, including the practices of Catholicism.

We hope that Catholics will no longer have to endure such discriminatory and hateful content when they watch shows meant to entertain and enlighten viewers of all backgrounds.