Holy Communion and Infection: the scientific evidence
A short literature review published in Cureus in June 2020
Anyfantakis D. Holy Communion and Infection Transmission: A Literature Review. Cureus. 2020 Jun 21;12(6):e8741. doi: 10.7759/cureus.8741. PMID: 32714679; PMCID: PMC7377019. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7377019/
This interesting article is written from an Eastern Orthodox theological point of view, which assumes the real presence of Jesus Christ in the bread and wine, miraculously transforming those who partake in Communion into Christ’s body and blood.
Then he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it all of you; this is my blood” [4,5].
Previously he had stated that “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day” [4-6]. By saying this word, he wanted to confirm that the elements of the Holy Communion were his “body” and his “blood” and not simply bread and wine [4-6]. For over 200 years, the celebration of the Holy Communion makes people actual members of the Orthodox Church [4-6].
In the same direction, Saint John of Damascus clarifies that the consecrated bread and wine are not symbols of the body and blood of Christ, but Christ’s body itself [7]. He also underlines that the communion is realistic and not metaphoric, and by partaking Holy Communion human bodies become bodies of Jesus Christ [7].
According to Saint Ignatius, the Holy Eucharist, “is the medicine of immortality and the antidote against death, so that we might live forever in Jesus Christ” [8].
Therefore, Christian theology cannot accept that contact with the chalice or the Holy Communion spoon, may act as a vehicle of transmission of pathogens to the worshiper [3,6].
There have been experiments, that have demonstrated that pathogens are not appreciably transmitted via the Communion cup:
The issue of the potential transmission of infectious diseases through the Holy Communion has given rise to a growing number of research efforts since the late 19th century [11]. A hypothesis that pathogens of the mouth may contaminate wine on the communion cup has been formulated by Hobbs et al. [11].
Researchers have performed experiments, through which volunteers were asked to drink sacramental wine that contained 14.5% of alcohol from a common silver communion cup or chalice [11]. Remarkably, the number of pathogens located in the rim of the chalice was found considerably low [11]. The authors concluded that the risk of the transmission of the infection through a common communion cup is negligible [11]. Furthermore, rotation of the chalice was ineffective in reducing bacterial colonization [11]. Wiping the rim of the chalice with a cloth reduced bacterial counts by 90% [11].
In the same direction, Burrows and Hemmens investigated the potential transmission of pathogens, from one person to another by the common use of the chalice [12]. Interestingly, the authors have reported that under the most favorable conditions only 0.001% of organisms were transmitted from the saliva of one person to the mouth of another [12]. Remarkably, Streptococcus Pyogenes swabbed from the polished surface of the chalice died of rapidly [12].
Perhaps the Anglican church in Perth, Western Australia, which denied the common cup to worshippers for a year and a half, should have looked into the science.
Interestingly, the Orthodox Church in much of the world continued to give Communion to parishioners throughout the pandemic.
Anyfantakis D. Holy Communion and Infection Transmission: A Literature Review. Cureus. 2020 Jun 21;12(6):e8741. doi: 10.7759/cureus.8741. PMID: 32714679; PMCID: PMC7377019. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7377019/