Catholics attending daily or Sunday mass in the D.C. area may see some changes in the liturgy because of the threat of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19.
The Washington Archdiocese, which oversees parishes in D.C. and Montgomery, Prince George’s, Charles, Calvert and St. Mary’s counties, recently announced that it’s up to individual pastors whether to include the customary handshake in the sign of peace ritual, and whether congregants should share communion wine from a common chalice.
Pastors are also being told to remind congregants that they always have the option of receiving the communion wafer in their hand instead of on their tongues.
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The D.C. approach contrasts with that of the Baltimore Archdiocese, which has ordered the immediate suspension of communion wine and the handshake during mass. Parishioners are being told to greet their neighbor with a bow and the words “peace be with you.”
In the Arlington Diocese, which includes parishes throughout Northern Virginia, pastors are being asked to consider suspending the use of the common communion chalice and the handshake. Pastors are also being told to add hand sanitizer bottles at church entrances.
At the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, the Rev. Michael D. Weston, the associate rector and director of liturgy, also said in a letter to extraordinary ministers — lay people who assist with the distribution of communion — that they were not allowed to refuse to place communion wafers on a recipient’s tongue if the parishioner wanted it. The extraordinary ministers were allowed to step away from the duty instead, the letter said. That policy doesn’t apply to the entire diocese, however.
