God in Government: Congregations Prepare for Flu Anxiety This Weekend

Congregations Prepare for Flu Anxiety This Weekend

By Jacqueline L. Salmon

Worshipers attending religious services this weekend may encounter special measures being taken to help protect against the spread of the swine flu virus.

In the Washington area, the Arlington diocese and the Archdiocese of Baltimore, which includes Anne Arundel, which has seen a number of cases of the virus, is recommending that Communion wine not be served in a common cup. The Arlington diocese has said that churches should consider suspending the "sign of peace"--a customary handshake exchanged during the Mass, substituting a bow or other gesture instead.

The archdiocese of Washington D.C. recommends that churches have hand sanitizer available for lay ministers who distribute communion wafers and wine.

The Episcopal Diocese of Washington D.C. distributed a 2000 study in Canada that suggested that the risk of drinking from a common Communion cup was less than the risk of air-borne infection, although the diocese left the decision of whether to use the common cup up to individual parishes.

Elsewhere in the country, in areas where swine flu is more prevalent, more drastic measures have been taken. Religion News Service reports that Bishop Gregory Aymond of Austin, Texas, where more than two dozen cases infections have been confirmed, has asked priests not to offer Communion wine at Mass until more is known about the virus. Catholic officials elsewhere in Texas, as well as those in Chicago and Green Bay Wisc., have offered similar advice, RNS reports.

University United Methodist Church in San Antonio has ordered individually wrapped Communion elements for this Sunday. Imams are being advised by the Council on American-Islamic Relations to consider canceling mosque services if needed.

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Congregations Prepare for Flu Anxiety This Weekend

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