The big news of the week on the Boston religious scene was the announcement that the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, after consulting with public health officials about ways to slow the spread of swine flu, is recommending that parishes suspend the practice of sharing consecrated wine with laypeople during Communion and that laypeople stop shaking hands or embracing one another as a sign of peace at Mass. Several Protestant denominations had already recommended an end to the use of a common cup for Communion during this pandemic; the local Greek Orthodox Diocese, by contrast, is defending the practice, even during flu season.

The Archdiocese of Boston's announcement on Tuesday was followed the same day by the same recommendations in the Worcester Diocese. The next day, the bishop of Fall River, George W. Coleman, went slightly further than Boston Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley, by declaring (rather than simply recommending) a suspension of sharing consecrated wine with laypeople at Communion, and by suggesting that parishes also suspend the entire sign of peace ritual (in Boston, O'Malley is recommending retaining the ritual, but urging people to bow toward one another or lock eyes for a moment, rather than having physical contact). On Thursday, the bishop of Providence, Thomas Tobin, joined in, "strongly recommending" that parishes discontinue the sharing of consecrated wine with laypeople, and that they either suspend the sign of peace ritual or urge worshipers to avoid touching one another while exchanging greetings. The Springfield diocese is the lone local holdout -- its guidelines, issued in September, continue to say that "reception of Holy Communion under both kinds is generally encouraged but is not a necessity."

All of the dioceses have strongly recommended that priests and other Eucharistic ministers pay more attention to their own hygiene before distributing Communion during flu season.

All this talk of hygiene and ritual caused quite a bit of chatter among the churchgoers in my world, and there were two questions that kept recurring: why don't Catholics use individual disposable plastic cups, like many Protestants, and what about the theory that it's not possible to get sick from Communion because Jesus is present? I posed these questions to the Rev. Jonathan Gaspar, co-director of the Office of Worship and Spiritual Life for the Archdiocese of Boston. Here are his answers:

Q: Why don't Catholics use individual disposable cups for Communion, like some Protestants do, and is that a possible change in the future?

A: The reason Catholics will not use individual disposable cups for Communion is because of the doctrine of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharistic species, which is quite different from the beliefs of many Protestant groups who have Communion services. We believe that during the Mass the bread and the wine become the Body and Blood of Christ, and so the vessels we use to contain the Eucharistic species are considered sacred vessels which are held in special honor. The General Instruction of the Roman Missal clearly sets the guidelines for the sacred vessels: “Sacred vessels are to be made from precious metal. If they are made from metal that rusts or from a metal less precious than gold, then ordinarily they should be gilded on the inside." For the dioceses in the United States, sacred vessels may also be made of other precious materials, such as ebony or other hard woods, “provided that such materials are suited to sacred use and do not easily break or deteriorate." However, chalices made of ebony or other hard woods are to have bowls of nonabsorbent material.

1. We wouldn’t distribute Holy Communion in disposable cups because a disposable cup could never be considered a sacred vessel. We don’t dispose of sacred vessels.
2. We wouldn’t distribute the Precious Blood in individual cups because of the theological concept of “one bread, one cup.” The Holy Eucharist is a sacrament of unity, and we are all meant to partake of the one bread and the one cup, as St. Paul exhorts us in his letter to the Corinthians: “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because the loaf of bread is one, we, though many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.” (1Corinthians 10, 16-17)

A: Though this belief has never been officially or doctrinally stated by the Church, there are many Catholics who believe germs cannot be transmitted through a common cup. The Eucharist has often been described as a remedy, the medicine of immortality, because when we receive Holy Communion we are receiving Christ, the Paschal Lamb who died and now lives to take away our sins. This great mystery contains the whole spiritual wealth of the Church, and we revere the Eucharist as the Most Blessed Sacrament.

The decision to temporarily discontinue the practice of distributing the Precious Blood from the chalice was a result of recent conversations with medical authorities and specialists in infectious disease, who believe that sharing a “common cup” can possibly spread communicable illness. We have taken this sensible step out of caution and concern for the health of our Catholic people. Our decision to temporarily discontinue this venerable practice does not diminish our reverence for the power of this great Sacrament.

Catholics believe that Christ, whole and entire, is received even under only one species. This is a belief defined in the sixteenth century by the Council of Trent. When Catholics receive the Eucharist in the form of the consecrated host, we are receiving the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ.

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, in an effort to help stop the spread of swine flu, is recommending that parishes stop offering laypeople consecrated wine at Communion and also discourage laypeople from hugging, shaking hands, or otherwise having physical contact during the "sign of peace" at Mass.

The steps, which are supposed to take effect Saturday, are among the broadest recommendations to date by a large Massachusetts institution to change public practices in an effort to stem swine flu, which is now spreading widely throughout New England and the nation. An estimated 294,000 people attend Catholic Mass in the Archdiocese of Boston each weekend.

In addition to recommending a suspension of Communion from the cup, and the change to the sign of peace, the archdiocese is also urging parishes to more regularly and carefully disinfect holy water fonts in churches. Communion from the cup is thought to pose a potential health risk because multiple worshipers drink from the same chalice; the exchange of peace can pose a risk as worshipers touch one another's hands, and the fonts are a concern because worshipers dip their hands in the water.

The disease, caused by the H1N1 virus, can be spread through hand-to-hand contact or contact with objects that have recently been exposed to the germ.

"Given the extraordinary precautions being taken across the nation to prevent the spread of the H1N1 influenza, the Archdiocese has instituted a series of steps to be followed for the time being during the celebration of the Mass," the Rev. Jonathan Gaspar, co-director of the archdiocesan Office of Worship and Spiritual Life, said in a statement. "We thank our priests, deacons, religious and parishioners for their understanding and support of these directives, which aim to protect the health of our people."

The archdiocese said it had made the decisions in consultation with public health officials, and said the recommendations would be lifted whenever the risk of flu infection subsides.

Here is the text of the archdiocesan recommendations, which were sent to parishes over the weekend:

• The Holy Water fonts are to be drained, cleaned with a disinfecting soap, and re-filled with holy water on a regular basis. Please note that old holy water should be disposed of in the sacrarium.

• The distribution of the Precious Blood for the faithful is suspended, with the exception of those who must receive from the cup due to medical reasons. The faith of the Church teaches that Christ, whole and entire, is received even under only one species.

• The exchange of the Sign of Peace is to be offered without any physical contact. If the priest celebrant chooses to extend the invitation for the sign of peace, the faithful, instead of a handshake, may bow to the persons nearby.

• While the faithful retain the option of receiving Holy Communion on the tongue or in the hand, all ministers of Holy Communion are advised to distribute the consecrated hosts with care, being cautious not to touch the tongue or the hand of the communicant.

• Parishioners should be reminded that if they are ill or suspect they are ill with a contagious illness, they are not bound by the Sunday Mass obligation. They should remain at home and return to church when they are well.

(Photo at top, by John Tlumacki/Globe staff, shows Northeastern University student Rebecca Thibault dipping her fingers in holy water before the start of the midday Mass today at the St. Francis Chapel at the Prudential Center in Boston. The Rev. Craig MacMahon of the chapel staff said that the chapel will now change the holy water daily.)

Sorry for disappearing. In mid-September, the Globe asked if I would help out on the metro desk for a few months, editing stories about local politics, and I agreed; I'm now starting my sixth week as interim associate political editor (OK, I made that title up, but that's more or less what I'm doing), helping to oversee our coverage of the race for mayor of Boston, and after the Nov. 3 municipal election I expect to assist with the editing of our coverage of a special election for the Senate seat that became vacant upon the death of Ted Kennedy. The current plan is for me to return to the religion beat sometime after the Dec. 8 Senate primary. I'm not writing stories during this period (although there may be an exception or two to that). At first, I continued blogging while editing, but it proved too much to juggle over the last few weeks; I'm hoping to resume blogging shortly if at all possible (I expect to post something Tuesday morning, so, as the saying goes, watch this space). I very much appreciate the notes and calls from folks who have wondered, or worried, about what I'm up to, and I apologize for not clarifying earlier. I've also heard from those of you who are unhappy with the way blogs are treated on the redesigned Boston.com home page, and I've tried to pass along those concerns. Also, you should know that we've introduced a new method for commenting on the blog that should make it easier for you to jump in, because your comments will appear instantly; the tradeoff is that they will no longer be moderated by me, and it will be up to you to flag problematic comments for possible deletion. This is the way comments are handled on Globe stories and many other Boston.com blogs, and I hope it will be a positive development here as well.

(Photo, by David L. Ryan of the Globe staff, shows a Boston voting machine.)

Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary tomorrow begins a conference on "What is the Evangelical Mission in the Public Square," featuring a variety of evangelical luminaries. The conference is honoring a longtime professor at the school, David F. Wells, who is retiring. I conducted a brief Q&A with Wells which was published in yesterday's Boston Globe magazine:

Is it different being an evangelical in Massachusetts than somewhere in the Bible Belt?
It undoubtedly is. Here you make a choice whether you want to be an evangelical believer. You have to be serious about it. In the South, it might be more following convention and habit or a family pattern.

You’re not impressed by the high percentage of Americans who say they’re born again.
The more important thing is the loss of Christian substance. In the long run, people who act inconsistently with what they proclaim are far more damaging to the Christian faith than the attacks that atheists launch.

What do you mean?
Many of those who claim to be born again don’t live very differently than those who don’t make that claim. Biblical faith really should be producing moral authenticity and integrity -- you should see it in honesty, courage in articulating enduring moral principles, and the sacrificial giving to good causes.

You’re on the board of an organization that builds Christian orphanages in Africa. Why that cause?
I’m an African. I was born in Zimbabwe. I’ve had an extraordinarily blessed life, and I thought at least I could give back a little to the land of my birth.

There’s been a lot of talk about whether younger evangelicals are more open to the Democratic Party than their elders.
I believe that older alliances between the Republican Party and various segments of the evangelical world are a lot weaker now. And I do think that what you have, especially amongst younger people, is a yearning for what is real and authentic and a deep distaste for what is hypocritical, and they find an awful lot of conventional political life to be phony and fabricated and manipulative.

What evangelical trends will you be watching in the future?
I’m encouraged by the younger generation. They know how empty our postmodern culture has become, and they’re not looking for Christian faith that’s an echo of that. They are quite tough-minded, and I find a lot that’s hopeful about this generation.

(Photo, by Webb Chappelle for the Boston Globe, shows David Wells at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary on Sept. 24, 2009.)