Catholic Church Takes Precautions Against Flu

Parishioners at St. Matthew Parish and other local Catholic churches may notice something different on Sunday.

Bishop Peter A. Libasci of the Diocese of Manchester recently sent an email to all priests and deacons recommending the following directives be put into place until further notice.

• Parishioners who feel ill should be reminded to stay at home and refrain from attendance at church celebrations until they are fully recovered.

• The faithful should be encouraged to share the Sign of Peace without touching hands or kissing. This may be done with smiles and a bow of the head in reverence to one another.

• The GIRM helps in this by saying in Chapter II par.82: “…the faithful express to each other their ecclesial communion and mutual charity…it is appropriate that each person, in a sober manner, offer the sign of peace only to those nearest.”

• Communion should only be given in the species of the consecrated bread. However, if you have individuals in your parish who have Celiac disease and can only receive Communion from the chalice, then they should be allowed to make the choice as to whether or not they are comfortable receiving from the chalice at this time.

• Priests, deacons, and extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion should be especially reminded of the need to practice good hygiene. Ministers of Holy Communion must be encouraged to wash their hands before Mass begins, or even to use an alcohol-based anti-bacterial solution before and after distributing Holy Communion.

• Greeters and ushers should use verbal greetings only and not shake hands with parishioners.

The email encourages critical pastoral judgement through flu season and emphasizes that traditional Catholic practices be re-instituted once the influenza risk is decreased.

The Archdiocese of Boston also recently announced that it is allowing priests to suspend the distribution of wine during Communion as a precaution because of the recent flu outbreak, reported The Boston Globe.

For more on the recent flu outbreak click here and get tips on staying healthy here.

Visit here to see how Windham businesses are handling the uptick in demand for flu vaccinations.