A BILL to allow for the provision of communion by extension for people unable to attend a public celebration of the eucharist received final approval at a meeting of the Church of Ireland General Synod Derry, on Thursday of last week.

During an experimental period, the Liturgical Advisory Committee had found that, in some areas of the Church of Ireland, the proposed service met a real pastoral need, the Synod heard.

Proposing the Bill, the Revd Adrian Dorrian (Dundela, Down) said that it was not intended to be “some kind of underhand way to introduce reservation of the Blessed Sacrament, and the rubric at the end of the liturgy makes it clear that the remaining bread and wine are to be consumed”.

The Bishop of Down & Dromore, the Rt Revd Harold Miller, said that the Article intended to prevent the carrying of elements in procession or reservation for adoration, not for this purpose.