CHURCHES in Merseyside have stopped sharing wine among the congregation, due to fears over swine flu.

Some church leaders have decided to only distribute bread during Holy Communion services, rather than offer the chalice to the congregation.

Today, the Archdiocese of Liverpool, which represents the Catholic church in Liverpool, confirmed some churches had taken the precaution.

However, a spokesman said it was a decision made by individual churches, as they had not told churches what to do or banned wine from services.

He said: “We put out advice because a number of parishes contacted us, but it’s not a directive and we’re certainly not banning or stopping anything.”

The advice from the Archdiocese of Liverpool is:

to give a verbal sign of peace during the service, rather than a handshake;

to discourage people from receiving communion (wine) from the chalice;

to discourage people from receiving the host (bread) on the tongue, although they can accept the host in their hand;

to stop the use of the stoup, in which people place their hands to make the sign of the cross with holy water.

The Anglican church in Liverpool has taken similar steps.

Stuart Haynes, media manager for the Diocese of Liverpool, said: “At this stage, the Bishop (James Jones) has not instructed churches in the Diocese to withhold the Communion cup, but some parishes may consider that precaution to be prudent.”