Catholics suspend Mass rituals as a precaution against coronavirus
Catholics are being asked to change the way they worship in Mass after dioceses suspended rituals as a ‘proactive’ precaution to protect parishioners from the deadly coronavirus.
Parramatta
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Catholics are being asked to change the way they worship in Mass as a precaution to the deadly coronavirus.
Under instructions from the Parramatta Diocese, Catholics will be forbidden to shake hands during the peace greeting or sip wine during Holy Communion — a ritual only reserved for the priest while the precautions are exercised.
Those who administer wafers during Holy Communion will be asked to use hand sanitiser until the virus is under control.
Parramatta Diocese vicar general Peter Williams issued a letter to Catholics this week and has already enforced the measures, including in western Sydney.
“The population of western Sydney is very diverse and multicultural, and a lot of our parishioners do come from southeast Asia,’’ he said.
“We have a high population of Filipino people, Indonesians, Chinese, Vietnamese and Cambodian.
“When people come to Mass, we have several hundred people getting together. We have quite a few parishioners in the diocese that come from Asian backgrounds.
Fr Williams said the measures were brought in as a proactive step.
“Each day it seems to be accelerating and more cases emerging,’’ he said.
“It may not hit Australia but I just think it’s the responsible thing to do in the circumstances when we’ve got large groups gathered from a wide variety of backgrounds.
He added that drinking wine from the chalice was also banned during SARS, but hand shaking was still permitted.
Receiving communion on the tongue is still permitted as part of the coronavirus measures.
He said there were no recordings of coronavirus affecting Catholics in Sydney.
“We’re not wanting to alarm people, we’re just saying ‘let’s be cautious’ in the same way school authorities asked people to stay home until after the incubation period,’’ he said.
Sydney Archdiocese has asked parishioners to exercise caution but worshippers will still be free to drink wine from the chalice and shake hands in a gesture of peace.
At St Bernadette’s Castle Hill, parish priest Father Fernando Montano said some members of his congregation, which he estimated was 20 per cent Asian, were still not used to the new rules.
“I explained to parishioners I was in Hong Kong during SARS in 2003 and how serious it was.
“With some people it doesn’t register. We will still see people turn to each other and shake hands.
“People say ‘Father, I’m not sick but I say it’s not about you, it’s about everyone’.’’