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by dmurray 1992 days ago
"There's no issue with alcohol" is the wrong way to put it.

Consumption of alcohol is mandatory at certain times (as part of Mass) and forbidden at other times (Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, but traditionally every Friday and all of Lent).
1 comments
Thorentis 1992 days ago
The Catholic Church actually teaches that Jesus is present in both the wine and bread, so only one must be consumed. At least in the Roman Rite it is never compulsory to receive the wine, and prior to the 1960s only the priest would receive the wine while the lay people would receive bread only.
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dmurray 1992 days ago
Yes I just meant that some consumption of alcohol (by the priest) is a compulsory part of the rite. At least here, the wine isn't generally offered to the laity, though you can get it if you ask nicely.

Also I thought I was going to be corrected on the other part of my claim. Apparently abstaining from alcohol on fast days isn't centralized Catholic doctrine and bishops/archbishops have some discretion on what they tell their congregations to abstain from.

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