Church adopts new altar wine after previous one became popular in bars

The Kenyan Catholic Church has adopted a new altar wine after church officials found the previous one was being sold in local stores. (Pavel Danilyuk/Pexels)

The Kenyan Catholic Church has adopted a new altar wine after church officials found the previous one was being sold in local stores.

“It has become common that unfortunately, the former wine is readily available in secular outlets and bars,” Anthony Muheria, a Kenyan Catholic bishop who serves as the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Nyeri, told the BBC this week.

The new wine will be made in South Africa at the Lutzvile Vineyards, The Kenya Times reported, bearing the coat of arms of the Kenyan Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) and cannot be sold in stores.

“This assures purity from the source,” Muheria told the BBC.

The KCCB is an organization made up of Kenyan bishops. They describe themselves as “shepherds of the Catholic Church in Kenya,” who “promote the greater good which the Church offers to all Mankind.”

Kenyan Diaspora Media reported that the KCCB can certify particular wines as worthy of serving in Holy Communion, adding that the sacrament must be made from “natural and pure grapes.”

The new wine will be branded as Mass Wine, the BBC reported.

According to Father Kibaki Robert, a Kenyan priest based in California, even non-Catholics were drinking the old wine.

“Catholics prefer to keep what is sacred exclusive to Catholic practice,” Robert told Kenyan Diaspora Media.

Dial a Drink Kenya, an alcohol delivery service, offers two brands of altar wine for delivery. One claims to be from Cyprus and the other from Tanzania, for 2,200 and 1,799 Kenyan Shilling, respectively, which equals to C$24 and C$20.