A netizen has recently brought up an old video of Pura Luka Vega, the drag queen behind the viral “Ama Namin remix” video, where this time they were “reviewing” communion wafers while dressed in yet another cosplay of Jesus Christ.
In the video, Pura who identifies as non-binary, was dressed as the son of God as they reviewed the sacramental bread filtered with a voice effect, just in time for the year’s Easter celebration.
The communion wafer was evaluated based on categories that included “design, crispiness, taste, and wow factor”.
Pura Luka Vega based their comments on the design of the religious symbols embossed on the white wafers.
One wafer had the acronym IHS on it which they jested meant “International High School”. According to online Catholic publication Aleteia, IHS is an “ancient way of writing the word Jesus Christ”.
They gave its design an “eight out of ten”, making a short comment, “It’s cute. I like it.”
They also did a “taste test” to review its “crispiness and taste” by breaking the wafers in half and eating it in front of the camera.
The drag queen gave it a “nine out of ten” while complimenting its wafery taste and ate another one with a different “design” of the symbol of a lamb.
“Consistent. Masarap siya. It has different designs, it’s cute,” Pura Luka Vega described the communion wafer in a mundane manner.
The drag queen concluded their video by giving the sacramental bread’s overall score, coined as its “wow factor”, an eight-point five out of ten.
“Overall, I’ll give this like an 8.5 over 10. Really good, really really good,” they said.
The video was uploaded last April 10 on their official Tiktok account and has gained over 60,000 views as of writing.
Months later, Pura Luka Vega’s “Ostiya Review” is resurfacing again after an online user posted it on Twitter.
Netizens were once again scandalized by the drag queen’s actions, which only fueled the fire caused by their viral drag performance of a punk rock version of the Catholic worship song Ama Namin.
“Doesn’t matter if it blessed or not, the fact na nakacostume pa talaga…ano na namang makabagbag damdaming dahilan? Isisi uli kay art? To inform and orient people of the taste, texture and design? ???,” a user commented.
“Is this still an act of worship? Art pa rin ba ‘to? This is blasphemy!,” pointed out another.
However, one netizen who claimed to be an altar server differed in their opinion towards the video.
“Bilang altar server/KBS noong kabataan ko, we would munch on unconsecrated hosts/ostia during seasons na sunod sunod ang misa. Its not that serious koya,” the netizen joined the discourse.
It can be recalled that a senior high school student sparked Catholic outrage in the past for reviewing communion wafers in a similar manner with Pura Luka Vega.
The person was condemned for making a “food review” of the consecrated communion wafer that was given to him during the Holy Mass and even comparing its taste to cornflakes.
It was reported that the student studied at one of the most prestigious Catholic schools in the country, which fueled the fire. Many Filipinos were outraged over the student’s actions, some even demanding his expulsion and ex-communication from his school.
The sacramental bread, also called by Catholics as the communion bread or simply host, is offered as the “Body of Christ” during the Holy Communion to Mass attendees. During the Holy Mass, the priest consecrates the bread and wine for “transubstantiation” into the Body and Blood of Christ.
Pura Luka Vega has previously released a statement regarding their controversial rendition of Ama Namin which has already caught the attention of lawmakers and church members in an exclusive interview with CNN Philippines.
“I feel like they want me to apologize, but I apologize if it made them uncomfortable, but I really did that performance as a way for me to kind of heal the exclusion I have experienced as a Catholic, as a queer person being somewhat being made to feel that I don’t really belong,” the drag queen told CNN.
“I don’t think that I merit that much attention. I’m just a drag queen, I’m just a human being and I don’t know if that calls for a national issue having senators react in that way… but I hope that they also understand it from my point of view,” they said on their Jesus impersonation becoming a national issue.
Despite the backlash, the drag queen said they will continue to impersonate Jesus Christ, which they have been doing in the past, as a way of “bringing honor to the Catholic faith in a queer way.”
Some prominent members of the LGBTQIA+, however, called out the drag queen, including Bataan Rep. Geraldine Roman.
“Pura, please, do not use the gender card again because you are giving the community a bad name,” Roman, who is the country’s first transgender politician, said during a CNN Philippines interview.
“This is simply a case of disrespect for religious feelings of other people. And now, because binabatikos ka ng marami sa lipunan, you’re waving the queer card. Don’t be unfair kasi nga, you know what, ang masama dito magkamali ang isang member ng community, lalahatin na.
“Hindi mo pwedeng tawaging art ‘yung pananakit ng damdamin ng ibang tao. I find that attitude very selfish, irresponsible, at tsaka and inconsiderate,” the lawmaker said.
Pura competed in the first season of Drag Den Philippines along with eight other drag queens. They were the first bearded drag queen to ever join a Filipino drag show.
