MANILA, June 26, 2009-If A(H1N1) cases in the country turn worse, church authorities are bent on taking "drastic" measures to thwart its further spread.
The flu pandemic has tapped the country's deep religious sentiment, but to avoid spreading infection some dioceses had to ban close contacts among churchgoers.
At least four archdioceses-Manila, Jaro, Lingayen-Dagupan and Cebu-have already asked their priests to give communion hosts by hand to parishioners.
The restrictions are to stay in force until local church authorities advise otherwise.
But if the public health situation deteriorated severely, Caloocan Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez said the church might take steps other than just banning potentially infective precautions at Masses.
"If the situation is already very alarming and its nature could be determined, then we bishops have to do something about it," he said.
Iñiguez heads the Permanent Committee on Public Affairs of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).
A(H1N1) cases in the country have already reached 861, but the bishop said that it was not enough ground to close the places of worship in an attempt to stop spread of the contagious disease.
In Mexico, the Catholic hierarchy had to suspend masses and discourage large gatherings of worshippers.
But church leaders there have come up with several options to help arrest the spread of the virus. They distributed a prayer, which the faithful can recite at home, asking for divine relief from the influenza.
They also called on the people to follow religious services on radio and television.
"It really depends on the kind of disease. If it's really fatal and spreads so fast then we will have to take drastic steps also," said Iñiguez.
"But so far, we haven't talked about it (closing places of worships) yet," he also said. (Roy Lagarde)