Guidance from the Bishop of London about the Eucharist in a Time of Pandemic

See below part of a letter from Bishop Sarah which has gone to all clergy today, and please note in particular the sentence that I have put in bold print.

I am sure none of us imagined on Ash Wednesday that as we entered Holy Week, we would find ourselves in this unfamiliar landscape.

‘Remember, you are dust and to dust you will return.’ Words from Genesis 3:19 started our Lenten pilgrimage. Maybe this Lent, more than any other, we have been reminded that with all generations of humanity we share in this inheritance.

However, Holy Week and Easter tells us that we have a hope which keeps us going despite what the reality is for us today or for tomorrow or the day after. It tells us that death does not have the last word.
This year Holy Week and Easter will be unlike any we have previously travelled through. I would urge you to be kind to yourselves, be near to God and watch in hope.
We have been asked about the celebration of Holy Communion in this season. As a College of Bishops in London we have given thought to this.

 [Specific instructions to the clergy follow here.]

Therefore, under the provisions of Canon B40, I, Sarah, Bishop of London, give blanket permission for priests to “celebrate the Holy Communion elsewhere than in a consecrated building”, and to do so in their parsonage house.

This is to facilitate the live streaming of services of Holy Communion from the parsonage house. This provision shall last until 31st May and may be renewed if necessary.

Furthermore, because it will not be possible for the confirmed to make their Easter Communion this year, except by spiritual communion, I, Sarah, Bishop of London, hereby dispense with the requirement of Canon B15 for the confirmed to receive Holy Communion at Easter and Whitsun.

In granting permission, exceptionally, for the clergy to celebrate Holy Communion in this way, our prayer must be that this time will be short. We pray too that God will give us a hunger and a thirst for that time when once again we can gather together to lift up our hearts in praise and adoration, to be nourished by the bodily reception of this sacrament which the Lord instituted on the night before he died and which he commanded us to continue ‘until he comes again’, to do again, indeed, all that is ‘meet, right and our bounden duty’.
Thank you for all that you are doing to support those in your care. You have been an inspiration to me, and I will continue to hold you in my prayers.

Sarah Londin