A bishop has advised priests to use smaller quantities of wine in Masses if they are worried about being over the legal limit, and to share out excess consecrated wine with Eurcharistic Ministers.Bishop of Raphoe, Philip Boyce, said he did not think consuming the wine at Mass should cause legal problems.
Enniskillen-based Fr Brian D'Arcy, who is tee-totaller himself, had expressed his concern that priests saying multiple Masses might find themselves over the drink-drive limit and be prosecuted.
"The shortage of priests has resulted in those who are currently ministering having to say multiple Masses, and often drive from church to church to do so, having drunk from the chalice in each church," he said.
However Bishop Boyce said that to say three Masses in a day was exceptional. “It is enough for a priest to take just a few sips of wine during the Mass,” he said.
“The priest can also give the chalice to other people to help finish up the wine,” he said.
Fr D’Arcy was concerned that a priest celebrating a number of masses would have consumed enough alcohol to fail a drink driving test.
"While I don't like to use the word wine, as it is the precious blood in the Eucharist, it still has all the characteristics of wine when in the blood stream," said Fr D'Arcy.
He pointed out that the use of non-alcoholic wine was not an option, even where alcoholic priests were concerned.
Fr D'Arcy was responding to a Tuam Herald report which quoted a north Galway priest as saying that, while he often had three ministers of the Eucharist at some Masses, he sometimes had to finish the wine left over in their chalices as well as his own. This, he felt, could put him over the legal limit for driving.
Both the Republic and the North currently have the same blood alcohol limit for drivers of 80mg/100ml, but a reduction in the limit on both sides of the Border is expected within 18 months.
Bishop Boyce advised that the answer was to use a small quantity of wine in the celebration of Mass. “If a priest is worried, he shouldn’t put too much wine in the chalice, but really I don’t think it should be a problem,” he added.
Under Church law, wine which has been consecrated must be consumed as part of the Mass.
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