In recent years, the idea of consuming only foods that are produced
within 100 miles of where you live has been popularized as a way to
reduce the need for longhaul trucking and to keep greenhouse gas
emissions in check.
Now the Earth-friendly principle is about to
be applied to the Roman Catholic Eucharist meal.
A Quebec wine is set to
replace the altar wine now in use in Catholic churches, a wine from
California vineyards about 4,000 kilometres away.
The new "Vin de
messe" will be produced by Domaine des Côtes d'Ardoise, a 7,500-hectare
vineyard near Dunham, a popular stop on the Eastern Townships wine
route.
"We're very excited," said Steve Ringuet, the vineyard's
owner, adding: "The principle makes sense to us. We have the capacity to
produce 40,000 bottles a year."
A sweet white wine with an
alcohol content of 16.5 per cent, Estafette blanc, as it is known at the
moment, retails for $19.50 a bottle at the vineyard and is available at
specialty wine stores.
Once relabelled "Vin de messe," it will be
sold in SAQ outlets, probably by summer, and it will be made available
directly to clergy in more than 1,400 Catholic churches in the
province's 19 dioceses.
"It is part of our efforts to become more
ecologically responsible," said Brian Mc-Donagh, the Montreal
Archdiocese's director of social action.
Although, he added, individual parishes will decide whether they want to use the new wine or not.
"It's very symbolic," said Norman Lévesque, the man behind the initiative.
"By
taking bread and wine and replacing those elements with ones that are
more environmentally friendly, we are touching the core of people's
faith."
Although the practice won't make a big difference on its
own, it is one of a growing number of initiatives aimed at making
churches more environmentally responsible.
Lévesque is the
director of Green Church, an initiative of the Montreal-based Canadian
Centre for Ecumenism advising church leaders on ways to reduce their
carbon footprints.
Since its launch last fall, more than 25
Montreal-area churches - Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant - have signed
commitments to introduce more environmentally sustainable practices,
usually involving heating, insulation and recycling.
The implementation of Quebec wine for communion is the program's latest achievement and forges new spiritual ground.
"The
hope is that its use will spread throughout the province," said
Lévesque, who floated the idea in a 2008 speech at the 49th
International Eucharistic Conference in Quebec City.
After several priests told Lévesque they liked the idea, he was emboldened to try to make it happen.
His
efforts recently came to fruition when Estafette was authenticated for
religious use by François Lapierre, the bishop of the St. Hyacinthe
diocese, which is home to the Côtes d'Ardoise vineyard.
As per
canon law, communion wine must be made of grapes - not strawberries,
pears or other fruits - and cannot be fortified with additional alcohol
or sugar.
Estafette made the grade, and now several Quebec dioceses are
interested in making the changeover.
Lévesque said he has heard
from several Roman Catholic dioceses in Quebec, including St. Jean sur
Richelieu, Longueuil, Nicolet and Montreal's archdiocese.
"It's
all been very motivating," he said, noting he now plans to turn his
efforts to the other half of the Eucharist meal - the bread, or
communion wafer.
Lévesque said he has asked the Sisters of Clare, a
religious order in Valleyfield, to consider baking communion wafers,
and he has contacted La Meunerie Milanaise, an Eastern Townships mill
that produces organic flour.