Former Warrnambool mayor Frank
McCarthy, a devout Catholic, is calling for the time-honoured tradition
of drinking from a shared goblet during services to be scrapped,
reports The Standard.
Mr McCarthy said wholesale consumption of wine from the same chalice
would not be allowed in any pub or restaurant and queried why churches
were given an exemption.
The former businessman said the risk of
spreading disease was heightened with a shared cup. He has raised his
concerns with church officials in Warrnambool in Victoria.
National Council of Priests of Australia chairman Eugene McKinnon
said it was not compulsory for Catholic parishioners to drink
consecrated wine.
“There’s sufficient alcohol in the wine, along with
the metal chalice, to make the possibility of the transference of
disease almost negligible,” Father McKinnon, formerly of Warrnambool,
said.
Mr McCarthy suggested the addition of wine during the preparation of
sacramental wafers could be an option. He said it would make symbolic
sense to combine the “body and blood of Christ”.
“It’s about time the Catholic Church worked this one out, because the process at the moment is pretty flawed.”
The Ballarat Catholic diocese was contacted for comment but Bishop Paul Bird and vicar-general Justin Driscoll were unavailable.