A virulently anti-Catholic booklet which claims the Vatican will be damned and that Catholic priests believe church members who do not accept the Communion wafer should be killed, has been found in King Edward VII Memorial Hospital.

The booklet, which refers to the Holy Eucharist as the "Death Cookie" and portrays Catholic priests as satanic figures, was found on a table at a public seating area at the reception to the hospital ten days ago.

The evangelical Protestant booklet, which has a wafer with a skull and crossbones on the cover, claims the Catholic Church believes members who do not believe that the Eucharist wafer is literally transformed into the body of Christ at Mass must be killed.

It states that transubstantiation - in which Catholics believe the Eucharist wafer is transformed into the body of Christ during Mass - is "the greatest religious con job in world history".

The comic strip booklet, published by Chick Publications of Chino, California, states "Satan was in complete control of the Roman Catholic Church" from 1200 to 1808 when there were 68 million victims, and that the church invented the the cult of the "Death Cookie " - the Eucharist wafer - to enslave its members.

Bermuda resident Colin Cooke, who found the booklet, said he was appalled it had been published, and agreed the hospital should check any literature left lying around the area.

He said yesterday: "I don't suppose it was put there by the hospital, but it's pretty outrageous.

"Its pretty outrageous that someone has produced it at all and its pretty appalling that it's available.

"I'm sure someone's left it there without the hospital knowing."

Mr. Cooke, who is not a Catholic, said it "might be a good idea" for the hospital to check the literature left there.

The Most Reverend Robert Kurtz, the Bishop of the Catholic Church in Bermuda, said this kind of literature appeared every so often on the Island, but he did not think there was any general anti-Catholic bigotry in Bermuda.

And he said that he has regular meetings with other church leaders on the Island who would condemn such attacks on other religions.

He said: "Every once in a while this kind of material makes an appearance in Bermuda.

"It's really very anti-Catholic and I don't find that kind of anti-Catholic feeling generally speaking in our society.

"But I know there are some kind of people who promote that kind of literature and leave it lying around in strategic places such as hospitals.

"Maybe its possible that some people feel that way but I've not had to deal with that in any general level that would be a movement that is contrary to the Catholic Church in Bermuda.

"I know that there is that literature but quite frankly I just ignore it.

"I don't presume it is the policy of the hospital (to have this material) but it may just have left it there.

"I don't think the hospital has responsibility for that kind of material.

"The ministerial meetings I have had (with other churches) would condemn material of that nature because they do not support that kind of activity of one church against another church in our community."

Bishop Kurtz said he visited the hospital regularly and had never seen the booklet left in individual rooms.

The booklet, which is in the form of a comic strip, states that Jesus, who died hundreds of years before the Vatican was founded, described the Vatican as the "habitation of devils".

And it claims that the Church believes that anyone who does not believe in transubstantiation "must be killed. Surely these laws are not in effect today, are they? Absolutely! Today, kings and presidents and dictators fear the power of Catholic laws."

It continues: "The Vatican is marked for judgement and destruction by the Lord for her blasphemy against the Lord Jesus."

No one from the hospital could be contacted for comment yesterday.