Adaptations of Liturgical Norms in response to a request from the County Public Health Department

My dear friends,

We have been in contact, once again, with the Santa Clara County Public Health Department, which has informed us of an increase in the transmission of the H1N1 flu virus throughout the County. Although a vaccination for H1N1 is expected to be available within the coming months, we have been warned to prepare for a season that will last through the late winter or even into the spring.  

During this time of public concern, I am asking all of us to be more aware on those occasions when many people gather and come into close physical contact with each other. Therefore, in response to the request by the Office of Public Health and in order to assist our parishioners in limiting the spread of the swine flu and to do everything possible to safeguard the health of our local community, I am asking all our parishes, missions, schools, and religious communities to implement immediately the following temporary adaptations to the liturgy, until further notice:  

1. Ministers, including clergy and ministers of hospitality, are asked not to shake hands when they greet parishioners. Also, if the assembly is invited to greet each other at the beginning of the liturgy or to gather after Mass, the same precautions should be taken.
2. The faithful should be encouraged to refrain from holding hands during the recitation or singing of the Lord's Prayer.
3. The faithful should be encouraged to share the Sign of Peace in ways other than shaking hands or touching. A reverent bow to each other might be suggested.
4. Priests who concelebrate a liturgy are to receive Holy Communion by intinction.
5. All who distribute Holy Communion, both clergy and extraordinary ministers, as well as those who minister to the sick and homebound, are to wash their hands with an alcohol-based anti-bacterial solution before and after they administer the Sacrament. This should be done as discretely as possible so as not to make this action seem part of the normative order of the Mass.
6. Holy Communion is to be distributed only under the species of the consecrated bread. Special care should be taken to ensure that those who are unable to consume the host because of disease or age are given the option to consume safely from the cup if they desire.
7. Holy Communion should be distributed only into the hands of communicants and not on the tongue.
8.  The practice of touching a non-communicant for a blessing is also to be discontinued.
9.  After being properly purified (in order to prevent cross-contamination, this should be done by the priest or deacon who has already received from the Cup), all Mass vessels (chalices, patens, and ciboria) are to be carefully washed in hot, soapy water after each Mass.
10.  Priests, deacons, readers, and servers-since they will be touching items in common-are to sanitize their hands before and after Mass, and during Mass if their hands become contaminated.

When appropriate, we will return to our normative liturgical practices, which highly value full participation in the Eucharist through the sharing of the cup and generous signs of hospitality, reconciliation, and unity.  

In addition to these temporary adaptations, I ask you to continue to encourage all of your ministers and faithful to follow the directives of our national and local health organizations that suggest frequent and substantial hand-washing with soap and water, covering one's nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing and washing one's hands after doing so, avoiding touching one's eyes, nose, or mouth, and limiting contact with others when one feels sick. As pastoral ministers, we are often among the first to care for others. Yet we must first take care of our own health so that we may minister effectively and responsibly.  

In conjunction with this, please remind the faithful that the obligation to participate in Sunday Mass does not hold for those who are seriously ill or may have flu or cold symptoms and assure them that a minister to the sick will gladly bring Holy Communion to them if they request it.

To assist you in implementing these temporary adaptations and in caring for the health and spiritual well-being your communities throughout the year, a resource page is available on the diocesan web site.  

To assist everyone in implementing these temporary adaptations and in caring for the health and spiritual well-being our communities, the following resources are recommended and offered for your use and distribution:  

• Information on the swine flu from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Ten questions on influenza/swine flu and the liturgy from the United States Bishops Committee on Divine Worship
• One-page flu checklist from the American Red Cross (PDF file) - may be reproduced for free as long as the document is not edited in any way: in English and in Spanish
• Liturgy, cold, and flu: Liturgical and pastoral suggestions from the Diocese of San Jose Office of Worship  

Thank you for your immediate attention to these matters and for undertaking the catechesis that will be necessary to reintroduce these adaptations to your communities this weekend.  

As we enter into fall, please keep in your prayers and those of your communities those who contract this and other viruses.  Thank your for your ministry to them and to their families.

With every best wish and kind regard, I remain,