“Given the highly contagious nature of the flu and the coronavirus, communicants MUST receive Holy Communion in the hand and not on the tongue,” Archbishop John Wester of Santa Fe said in an official statement. “I realize that there are some who prefer to receive Holy Communion on the tongue. However, during the flu season and given the possibility of being exposed to the coronavirus, ALL communicants are to receive Communion in the hand … Receiving Communion in the hand is every bit as respectful as receiving on the tongue. There is nothing ontologically preferable to receiving on the tongue.”