Dioceses: Common sense rules in churches during flu season

The limited availability of the flu vaccine has raised some questions about Catholic rituals that involve physical contact and led to dioceses, including the Albany Diocese, issuing policies on the matter.

Bishop Kenneth Angell of Burlington, Vermont, for example, has asked Catholics not to receive Communion from a common cup and not to shake hands during the Sign of Peace from now until next Easter.

The Cleveland Diocese, while suggesting that ministers of Communion wash their hands just before Mass, left specific changes up to parishes. It asked pastors and liturgical ministers to let "common sense, pastoral sensitivity and proper hygiene be the guide."

The U.S. bishops' national Secretariat for Liturgy said that bishops could decide to adapt liturgical practices "in those localities where the outbreak of the disease has been the most significant."

The Secretariat has posted "Ten Questions on Influenza and the Liturgy" at www.usccb.org/liturgy/influenza.shtml.

The Albany Diocese has issued the following statement: "Unfortunately, the opportunities for infection through contact are limitless, e.g. touching the back of a pew, a doorknob or breathing the air around us....The Church has always taught that those who are ill are not required to attend Mass, and the Albany Diocese maintains that those who feel unwell, out of consideration for others, should remain at home.

"It is expected that if a person believes he or she may have been exposed to illness, from a family member, for example, or has a suppressed immune system, it is prudent for him or her to refrain from shaking hands at the Sign of Peace or drinking from the Communion cup."

(11/18/04)