The Provost of the Birmingham Oratory has said questions remain over the decision by the Bishops’ Conference to require Communion in the hand only. In a homily delivered on Sunday, Fr Ignatius Harrison asked how detailed the consultation between the bishops and the Government on the issue was, and whether there is any conclusive evidence Communion on the tongue is more of a contagion risk. Last week, the Birmingham Oratory announced with “sadness and distress” that it had been forbidden from distributing Communion on the tongue. The oratory’s main Sunday Mass is in the Extraordinary Form, which does not permit Communion in the hand. In his Sunday homily, reproduced in full below, Fr Ignatius Harrison also said: