Coronavirus fears lead Holy Land Catholic churches to give communion by hand only

JERUSALEM - Roman Catholic authorities in Jerusalem have instructed their priests to give communion by hand only, rather than placing the wafers on worshippers' tongues, and to empty holy water fonts - as precautions against the spread of the coronavirus.

Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Vatican's apostolic administrator, said in a statement that with its many visitors the Holy Land is in a "unique situation". In the communion ceremony, worshippers receive a wafer called a host and often sip wine, or dip the wafer into wine in the chalice before putting it in their mouths.

Pizzaballa's statement also offered a "preventive suggestion" to empty the holy water fonts - typically metal or stone basins filled with blessed water that are often placed at the entrance to a church.

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