Aus/Int'l : IT appears occupational health and
safety knows no bounds. The Lord's Supper, a religious tradition spanning two thousand years, is being sanitised because of health concerns.
Increasing numbers of conservative churches are cutting out wine from the common cup due to fears about passing on disease, infection or cold sores.
Even the bread and wafers are more health friendly with gluten-free options for those with coeliac disease.
And servers of communion are using hand sanitiser at the front of the church to allay hygiene concerns.
The rite, representing the body and blood of Jesus Christ at Christian churches, is celebrated in different ways, with some only serving bread.
Of those that drink wine, many use individual cups, but some still share a chalice.
At St Mary of the Angels Catholic parish in Geelong, the general congregation partake only in consecrated bread.
But Father Kevin Dillon said it had also now scrapped its tradition of sharing wine from the chalice among lay ministers of communion, to avoid spreading disease.
"We know now that so many diseases can be distributed through even minute amounts of saliva," he said. "We decided because of health problems to stop sharing wine from the chalice for special ministers of the Eucharist. No one has complained or grizzled to me about it."
At City on a Hill, a modern Anglican church in the CBD, everyone is catered for, with white bread and gluten-free bread, as well as wine and grape juice, all served at communion services.
But the Eucharist became a vexing issue for Catholic churchgoers after the Vatican ruled that gluten-free host bread could not be used.
Some parishes are still defying this, but low-gluten wafers tolerated by many coeliacs are available.
Mike Grieger, owner of Australian Church Resources, sells gluten-free and low-gluten altar bread to more than 2000 churches, including Lutheran, Anglican and Catholic, and says demand is growing.
"There is a greater move away from the common cup of wine too for those that were using them, in case of spreading cold sores, or if someone has a sniffle, for example," he said. "And those serving communion are publicly cleaning their hands with those sanitary squeeze bottle things - once upon a time that would never happen. They haven't got to the stage of using gloves yet."
Anglican Diocese of Melbourne spokesman Roland Ashby said the common cup was widely used but it was a decision for each church.
"Most churches also offer individual cups, as a choice," he said. "We are not aware of research which establishes a link between the use of the common cup and the spread of disease. If the cup is carefully used, any such risk is minimised."