Churches in York are removing holy water, asking people not to shake hands during services and using antibacterial hand gel in an attempt to combat the spread of swine flu.
Changes have been made to some Roman Catholic Masses across the city after a meeting of bishops in London saw a raft of guidelines drawn up to keep parishioners safe from catching the virus.
This has also seen priests at the denomination’s York churches advised not to administer wine during communion and to only place hosts in people’s hands rather than directly into their mouths.
Many of the city’s eight Roman Catholic churches have also decided to alter the sign of peace – a segment of services where worshippers shake hands – to avoid the possibility of swine flu being passed on in this way.
Last month, the archbishops of York and Canterbury also sent out recommendations to Church of England institutions, which included asking ministers to dip communion wafers into the wine themselves before placing them in the hands of churchgoers and making sure their hands were properly washed beforehand.
The changes to Roman Catholic services have now been outlined during services, and Dr Jim Whiston, spokesman for the Diocese of Middlesbrough – which includes York – said: “This advice came from a bishops’ conference in London recently, which had taken the views of medical experts.
“Swine flu is clearly something we have to take very seriously and, although it is not an instruction and it is down to individual churches to decide what they do, most churches seem to be taking it up and the advice will continue to be issued for as long as is necessary.
“It involves suggesting that communion hosts are placed in the hands of the recipient rather than the tongue and only distributing communion under one kind – without wine – asking people to bow to each other rather than shake hands at the sign of peace and removing the holy water parishioners use to bless themselves.”
The latest figures on swine flu’s impact on North Yorkshire are expected to be released by health chiefs tomorrow.
Last week, The Press revealed 15 patients had been admitted to York Hospital with suspected swine flu, but only one actually had the virus, while extra collection points for antiviral drugs such as Tamiflu were being set up, bringing the number around the region to 42.
WORSHIPPERS at one of York’s biggest churches will be taking communion in a new way from now on, to help combat swine flu.
The clergy at St Michael le Belfrey Church, in Minster Yard, are changing their style, in line with advice from the archbishops of York and Canterbury.
They will be using communion wafers instead of bread, and are to stop using the communal communion cup.
Instead, those assisting with communion will use an antibacterial gel before they start, and will then dip a wafer into the chalice, before handing it to the worshipper with the words “the body and blood of Jesus”.
Mark Rance, the church’s head of operations, said: “In doing this, we hope that we will be able to play our part in helping to stop the spread of the flu virus, while still being able to offer communion to all those who want to receive.”
Source: http://www.thepress.co.uk
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