Churches in Sydney Diocese could be asked to review how they serve Communion during Sunday services, following an extensive review undertaken by a specially appointed committee.
Clergy are being warned that the use of a common cup poses ‘a small but significant health risk’, and are being asked to provide individual cups. In addition, all those involved in preparing the bread or wine are told to wash their hands prior to the service.
Standing Committee is expected to receive the report from Dr Bernard Hudson, head of the Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases at Royal North Shore Hospital, at its meeting this month.
Dr Hudson’s report will strongly recommend the use of individual cups, saying “it is not true to state that wiping the Communion Cup reduces the amount of infectious agent present to a level lower than the infectious dose.”
The report will also dispell the notion that the wine kills infection. “At the end of the day, the level of risk may be negligible, but be impossible to accurately quantify or even prove or disprove whether there is any risk at all,” Dr Hudson wrote.
He also warns that, in an age with greater knowledge of a variety of infectious diseases, the chance of litigation could not be ruled out if the church did not take action.
Dr Roger Dethlefs, a member of Figtree Anglican Church, says it is important for the Anglican Church to bring its practices into line with the rest of the community.
“Out in the general community where food is sold for consumption, the Food Safety Standards of Australia and New Zealand apply,” he said. These standards require that a cup or glass be suitably cleaned before each use. They also require that food handlers wash their hands before dispensing food.
“These standards are in place to prevent the transmission of diseases.”
Dr Dethlefs says that sharing saliva through the common cup can result in the spread of several diseases, including the cold sore virus, the virus that causes glandular fever, hepatitis B, meningococcal septicemia and peptic ulcer.
“The dispensing of bread with unwashed hands could also result in transmission of diarrhoeal illnesses,” he said. “Even harmless old grape juice could be a source of infection if left in the fridge for weeks at a time and subject to contamination by other items.”
While acknowledging that questions about communion could be seen as being overly suspicious, Dr Dethlefs said every precaution should be taken to ensure not only that diseases are not transmitted, but that communion was a positive experience for all people.
“Have you ever contemplated, as the pieces of bread were broken off from the loaf and placed in your hand, whether the distributor had just wiped his nose with that same hand?”
