Some area Catholic churches have temporarily shelved their Holy Communion wine cups to help keep seasonal viruses at bay.
Citing an “increase of various illnesses in our community,” priests of the family of Catholic parishes in the Town of Tonawanda and cities of Tonawanda and North Tonawanda agreed this week to suspend distribution of wine in the chalice during Holy Communion.
The move was temporary and will be revisited “as we get through this time of year when illnesses seem to rise,” the priests said in a joint statement posted on Facebook.
“We know many devoutly receive from the cup, but this is for the health of the community,” the Facebook post noted.
The suspension applies to six parishes that make up Family #18: St. Amelia, St. Andrew Kim Mission and St. Christopher in the Town of Tonawanda; St. Francis of Assisi in the City of Tonawanda; and St. Jude the Apostle and Our Lady of Czestochowa in the City of North Tonawanda.
St. Gregory the Great is the biggest Catholic parish in the Buffalo Diocese, but the Rev. Leon Biernat says while many parishioners were enthusiastic about returning to the building worship, others were not due to worries about the coronavirus.
“It had been brought up to me by a couple parishioners – are we considering…
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