Bishop Michael Burbidge of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Raleigh has asked that church members refrain from shaking hands and from drinking out of a common cup during the celebration of the Eucharist.

The request will affect all churches in the 54-county diocese, which includes Wake County, beginning Friday.

"It is a wise decision; we have to be prudent," said Monsignor Tim O'Connor, pastor of St. Michael the Archangel in Cary, which began taking precautions on Monday. "We want Mass to be meaningful, but at the same time, we need to be cautious."

Practically, it means priests will forgo the traditional "passing of the peace," a break in the service during which parishioners greet those around them with a handshake. It also means that parishioners will receive only the wafer during the Eucharist -- the central Christian rite in which bread and wine are transformed into or represent the body and blood of Christ.

Eucharistic ministers at St. Michael were asked to sanitize their hands before the preparation of the bread and wine and after distributing it to fellow parishioners.

"It's a precautionary measure, given what we're hearing from the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta and the World Health Organization," said diocesan spokesman Frank Morock.

Other Christian denominations have not gone so far, though they have issued guidelines on practicing good hygiene such as washing hands frequently and staying home when sick.

The Rev. Dan Oschwald, rector of Sacred Heart Cathedral in downtown Raleigh, said his parishioners already seem to be taking steps to avoid the spread of the H1N1 virus by not drinking from the communal cup. "What we've discovered is that most of the cups come back half full," Oschwald said.

The most difficult part for priests, Oschwald said, will be to avoid shaking hands with people on the church steps as they leave church.

Unlike the Raleigh diocese, Methodist and Episcopal churches allow people to dunk the wafer or the bread into a chalice rather than drinking from it. The practice, known as "intinction," is considered safer from a public health perspective.

Still, some pastors, such as the Rev. Gary Allred at Holland's United Methodist Church in Raleigh, said a general concern for health prompted him to ask that all Eucharistic servers use a hand sanitizer before serving the bread and the wine. Several bottles of it sit on the altar.

Catholic theology allows parishioners to partake of the bread alone and still fulfill the Eucharistic rite. The only exceptions to the new measures: priests and people intolerant of gluten.

Eucharistic minister Adriana Polcaro of Morrisville understands the precautionary measures because of her job at insurance company Blue Cross/Blue Shield.

"I'm well aware of the threat of swine flu. We are being told that 25 to 50 percent of the population may catch it, so with such a contagious virus, why take the risk?" Polcaro said.

Although the temporary elimination of the wine reduces the need for Eucharistic ministers by half, St. Michael will continue to train new ministers and schedule them for upcoming Masses.

St. Michael parishioner Karon Sorensen, a nurse at Duke University Medical Center, supported the decision as well.

"Personally, it won't affect the way I celebrate Mass. It's probably warranted, especially with as large a church as we have," she said. "For me, it makes sense."

Correspondent Anne Woodman contributed to this report.