Growing up, as one gets older, one takes on more and more adventures and sometimes some challenges. It is part of life and from a very young age one has to deal with society: the first confrontations begin and therefore the first conflicts can arise. The parents of a boy with autism who had to deal with a harsh reality are well aware of this.

But they never expected that in the house of the Lord they could encounter friction and little inclusion.

In a parish in Silvi, Teramo, Italy, a family was excited about the upcoming celebration of their son. After a long time, the right religious education and many trials, the long-awaited moment of the first communion arrived for their son.

However, the priest who was to celebrate this happy event objected to giving the boy communion: “he cannot take part in the ceremony with all the other boys because there is a risk that he will spoil it for everyone”.

The priest had therefore proposed to celebrate the child’s first communion separately by imagining the back of the chapel a few metres from the main building. The parents were astonished and would have none of it: they acted accordingly.

They took their son and brought him to another church that was happy to welcome the boy.

But this was not enough for his parents who were indignant about the incident: “he is a very sweet boy and has a good relationship with his entire catechism class: they protect and love him, they know that he is special and in any case not a violent child who can cause problems”, said his father. Of course, the fact led to heated controversy.

For example, the priest who had “refused” to give him that sacrament “defended” himself: “we do not deny the Eucharist to anyone, we have often had children with some difficulties and there have never been any problems, but in this case the boy walked among the others during the rehearsal, he caused a lot of unrest, he even went to the altar and knocked over the candles while screaming”.

But his parents reveal that the boy had simply slipped and fallen and hit a candle, causing it to fall to the ground. In any case, the new pastor enlightened the eyes and hearts of the family with his beautiful words: “it is true, you are busy with it and it is not easy, but with these hugs that he gives, your son shows you heaven”.

Finally, the boy received the long-awaited first communion and his father explained: “it was also very emotional in this way, but what happened remains serious: our son was not allowed to celebrate it with all his friends”. What do you think of this story?