Flu prompts modified rituals for Catholics
Bishop excuses ailing from Mass obligation
Published: October 28, 2009, 2:30 pm
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A rapidly spreading flu bug is changing the way area Catholics worship during Masses.
Bishop Edward U. Kmiec on Friday directed all parishes to suspend distribution of wine during Holy Communion and encouraged churchgoers to offer a nod or verbal greeting of peace, rather than shake hands during the sign-of-peace at Mass.
Kmiec also urged Catholics who are feeling under the weather to stay home.
"In the past few weeks, we have seen a dramatic increase in sickness in our Catholic schools and in the workplace," Kmiec said in a prepared statement. "Based on our consultations with Catholic Health [System] officials and a number of county health departments in Western New York, we feel this is a prudent decision to make at this time. If people are sick, they should stay home. They are excused from their Sunday Mass obligation."
Kmiec made the announcements after consultation with health departments in Erie, Niagara and Allegany counties, as well as with the Catholic Health System. Diocesan officials wanted "to make sure we weren’t overreacting," said Kevin A. Keenan, a spokesman.
Emergency rooms at area hospitals were experiencing heavy traffic because of flulike illnesses, which also influenced the diocese’s decision.
"What’s going around now is a mix of a lot — H1N1 [swine flu], some seasonal flu and other illnesses to be determined," said Dennis McCarthy, spokesman for Catholic Health. "This is anything but a normal flu season."
Nationwide, flu illnesses are as widespread now as they are at the winter peak of normal flu seasons, said Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"Many millions" of Americans have had swine flu so far, according to an estimate he released Friday. The government doesn’t test everyone to confirm swine flu, so it doesn’t have an exact count.
CDC officials said more than 20,000 people have been hospitalized because of swine flu and more than 1,000, including nearly 100 children, have died.
Sixty million people have gotten the winter flu vaccine — probably because, as a result of swine flu, they have been paying more attention to flu warnings. The number of seasonal flu shots is unprecedented for October; most usually aren’t given until later in the fall.
Diocesan officials approached hospital representatives about the Mass changes, and "we basically said this is the right idea," McCarthy said. "I certainly don’t think it’s an overreaction at all."
Other religious groups also have urged caution.
Episcopal priests use alcohol hand sanitizers before distributing Communion, and some pastors have told congregation members from the pulpit that whether to shake hands during peace exchanges is up to them, said Laurie Wozniak, spokeswoman for the Episcopal Diocese of Western New York.
Communion is considered an essential element of the Catholic faith, and participants can receive both bread and wine.
The wine is distributed in a common chalice that is wiped clean after each recipient.
The Catholic catechism makes receiving just the bread acceptable, because Christ is "sacramentally present under each of the species," Kmiec noted.
Many Catholics typically receive the bread alone, anyway.
Reception of the wine through a communal cup is more common in area Episcopal churches, which haven’t suspended the practice.
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams recommended last month that because of swine flu, Anglican churches in England suspend use of the common chalice.
But a memo from the Episcopal Diocese of New York to priests and deacons says suspending the cup is unnecessary, as long as a clean purifying wipe is applied outside and inside of the lip after each use.
The memo, which the Episcopal Diocese York has posted on its Web site, cited a 1998 finding from the CDC that no documented transmission of any infectious disease ever has been traced to the use of a common Communion cup.
"We believe the common cup is an essential symbol of our Christian life and identity. We, naturally, do not want to expose anyone to danger and contagion, but we are convinced that those risks are benign when Eucharistic worship is conducted responsibly," Bishops Mark S. Sisk and Catherine S. Roskam wrote. "We are unwilling to surrender the sacrificial quality of this tradition because drinking from a common cup is a sign of trust, fellowship and commitment."
Kmiec’s directive, nonetheless, will remain in effect until further notice, Keenan said.
Priests, deacons and Eucharistic ministers also are advised to wash or sanitize their hands before distributing the Eucharist. The diocese did not consider suspending distribution of the Eucharist, Keenan said.
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