After weeks of anxiety about the swine flu, at least one U.S. diocese will be bringing back the communion chalice.

From the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette:

Last fall, it was a sign of the season – the flu season, that is. Area Roman Catholic churches stopped offering communion wine from the common cup during Mass for fear of spreading the H1N1 virus.

Although public health officials say flu season isn’t over, the suspension will end Jan. 10, Bishop John M. D’Arcy of the Fort Wayne-South Bend Catholic Diocese announced Thursday.

In a written statement, D’Arcy said he consulted with other Indiana bishops, diocesan vicars, a panel of advisers known as the College of Consultors and “particular health officials” whom he did not name in making the move.

“There was a general, though not unanimous, consensus that it is time to consider the lifting of suspension of communion from the cup,” he said. “Taking everything into account, the suspension is lifted effective on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord,” Jan. 10.

Allen County Health Commissioner Dr. Deborah McMahan said H1N1 activity in the area has waned from its peak in mid-October to early November.

Far as I know, my diocese hasn’t lifted the ban, and will keep it in effect until April.