Power of prayer not enough, says Bishop
You can pray you won’t get the flu, but a US Catholic bishop is urging other steps too.
Vermont’s Bishop Kenneth Angell has asked worshippers of the state’s largest religion to abstain from the Mass customs of sharing a chalice of wine and shaking hands for the next six months.
Angell made the request, believed to be the only one like it in the US, in a notice to the state’s 130 Catholic parishes.
The nation is facing a shortage of flu vaccine because about half of this year’s supply was found to be contaminated with bacteria.
Vermont needs at least 50,000 doses for people at highest risk but it only has about 36,000 doses.
Catholics traditionally shake hands with parishioners in pews beside them when a priest calls for a “sign of peace” during Mass.
They then receive a piece of communion bread and may sip from a shared chalice.
