of August 1996 on pp. 8-9, Professor C.K. Broughton wrote:
"The health implications of receiving Holy Communion from the chalice have been of concern to churches of several denominations. It would be virtually impossible to design a study to confirm beyond doubt the transmission of communicable diseases by the common use of the chalice. In this sense one could say that there is no evidence to indicate such disease transmission; this simply means that such evidence has never been obtained and, in fact, would be almost impossible to obtain.
"What we do know is that a number of human pathogens can be present in saliva or on the lips and that such pathogens can be transmitted to others by means of fomites, that is, inanimate objects contaminated by such pathogens. Amongst such agents can be mentioned Herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2, Epstein Barr virus (the cause of glandular fever), secondary syphilis, chickenpox virus, various enteroviruses, hepatitis A, B and C viruses, HIV, the diptheria bacillus, haemolytic Streptococcus group A (the cause of acute tonsillitis and sometimes scarlet fever), Candida albicans (the cause of thrush), Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Mycrobacterium leprae, influenza virus, corona and rhino viruses (cause of the common cold), and there are others. The risk of contamination is not confined to the rim of the vessel: small amounts of saliva enter the interior of the vessel and mix with the sacramental wine. There results a soup of organisms.
"The degree of transmissibility of each agent depends on many factors and obviously some are far more communicable than others e.g., influenza and common cold viruses are highly communicable whereas it is unlikely, for instance, that HIV could be transmitted in this way; however, the dose of HIV organisms from a sufferer could be high if there were occult bleeding into the mouth itself as not infrequently occurs. The same remark applies to a number of other pathogens such as hepatitis B and C. Furthermore, wiping the rim of the Chalice does not sterilise and divine intervention cannot be invoked as a sterilant, despite the sanctity of the ceremony.
"Fears are well founded, but as mentioned above, cannot be quantified. However our knowledge of microbiology and hygiene indicate that the common use of any drinking utensils is most unwise. There is legislation in the Public Health Act which forbids any catering establishment from reusing contaminated utensils. Most people would object strongly to a waiter providing them with unused unwashed wine glasses taken from and adjacent table immediately after customers had left. “Many churches have circumvented this problem by providing sacramental wine in a small individual glass to each communicant** 1** or of adopting the use of intincture whereby the wafer is first dipped in wine and then offered to the communicant. I would suggest that these alternatives should be seriously considered.”
F.J.L.'s Footnote 1: This option (“small individual glass to each communicant” ) is NOT an option for Catholics!
F. John Loughnan
September 8, 2004
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