The Hot Zone | National Geographic

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HumbleIOughtToBe

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Don’t view at 1:42, as almost non-PG things are going on.

“It (Ebola) spreads through bodily fluids”
Shows 2 people drinking from chalice at mass.
1:37-1:40
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Thoughts:
  • How do we go to mass during Pandemics?
  • Is this fear mongering over Catholicism, trying to associate our sacraments to a risk of Ebola or other things?
Relevant CAF forums, maybe their are more.
I figure I should post this before the movie is big.

My Home Parish covered the Baptismal Font and did not do the Chalice during H1N1 or something else around 2012-ish time frame.
 
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HumbleIOughtToBe said:
How do we go to mass during Pandemics?
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The Church has gone through two worldchanging pandemics, the Plague of Justinian and the Black Death. You could look up the history of both if you want to know more. A common response was the suspension of public masses, often because clerics simply abandoned their parishes and fled, as did many of the faithful. I’m pretty sure that Mass attendance dropped precipitously during the Spanish Flu epidemic, as well.

I don’t think that it is fear mongering over Catholicism. Drinking from a common chalice does indeed pose a real risk with this particular virus, and even many Catholics are reluctant to partake because of fear of infection.
 
I read the book The Hot Zone and it was some scary stuff
 
When there’s a flu risk here, most parishes don’t offer the Precious Blood, so no chalice-sharing, and you’re of course free to refuse to drink from a shared chalice any other time.

If a pandemic gets so bad that Mass is cancelled or all the priests are died off or whatever then we just live with it and pray for it to pass. As Jbrady mentioned the Church has already been through many of these, it’s not a new thing.
 
Your Pastor/Diocese will do things like suspend the Chalice/sign of peace/holy water font for flu season or for a strep outbreak.

Should something worse happen, I’d be wearing a mask to Mass.
 
Huge pandemics cause historical shockwaves of weirdness in the church as many of the holiest people and priests are out there dying on the front lines serving their flock. The ages to follow involve rapid ordinations and all the weirdness that you might expect with a need for rapidfire desperate ordinations, but the Church perserveres and levels out eventually.
 
I know that during the Spanish Flu outbreak, public health officials cancelled all public gatherings in my little corner of the U.S. - schools, ball games, church services, theater, etc. I’m sure the same thing happened in many other parts of the world.
 
I think drinking from any cup/glass/chalice anyone else has drunk from is yukky. That includes the chalice. Wiping it with a cloth doesn’t eliminate germs. But it’s optional. Simply don’t do it!

As for the host, I think most places (?) now insist Eucharistic ministers sanitize their hands before Communion. Makes sense to me.
 
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