Bishop urges worshipers to skip wine, sign of peace to stop flu
BURLINGTON, Vt. You can pray you won't get the flu, but Vermont's Catholic bishop is urging other steps as well. He's telling worshipers they should abstain from the customs of sharing a chalice and shaking hands at Mass for the next six months.
The bishop made the recommendation in a notice to the state's 130 Catholic parishes.
Catholics traditionally offer one another a handshake about halfway through the Mass as a sign of peace, and it's common to sip wine from a single chalice at communion.
But with the current flu vaccine shortage, the bishop is recommending a six-month moratorium on those customs as a way to stop the spread of the illness.
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