Church bans gluten-free host

[Elizium23]

I think what this boils down to is doubt. Hosts made from 100% rice or 100% barley might be consecrable, but we don’t know for sure, because God has not revealed to us a Eucharist of anything but wheat.

It’s very, very simple. It’s not nitpicking, it is obedience. Jesus took wheat bread. Jesus took grape wine. The Jews always used wheat bread and they always used grape wine for their Passover. God never told them “If you’re out of wheat, you can use rice. If booze makes you crazy, you can use OJ. No problem, dudes.” God has not revealed anything to us but wheat bread and grape wine. Obedient to God, His Church uses wheat bread and grape wine in fidelity to Jesus’s actions.

If the Apostles had determined that rice cakes could be used (did they even have such a thing at that time?) then today we would have an option for validity. If it was revealed to the Church, an ecumenical council could have allowed rice as an option. But somewhere in Church history (too lazy to look it up) an ecumenical council infallibly declared that wheat was the only material for certain validity. End of story. The doctrine of the Eucharist is defined and set in stone, there can be no wiggle room anymore.

Ecumenical councils are held to refute heresies and settle doubts. There should be no doubt or uncertainty when it comes to Church doctrine. Sure, sometimes in her wisdom, the Church allows for uncertainty, preferring to leave things undefined: at her Assumption, did Our Lady die first, or was she assumed into heaven alive? The West made no determination on that. It’s up for debate by the faithful, whatever we want to believe is fine. Are we free to doubt that rice is valid matter? Yes, but we’re not free to believe that it is! We are following in Jesus’s footsteps. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Without Him there is no redemption, no eternal life. Would you rather follow him, or follow yourself?

P.S. I just spent some minutes trying to find an ecumenical council that defined valid matter for the Eucharist, but I was not successful. Am I right that it happened this way?

 

[martininthefiel]

I was an Episcopalian for a long time, and served as a sacristan off-and-on for 25 years or so, including, for a time, in a diocesan cathedral. I was also the vestry member who ordered the communion hosts and the wine in an Anglo-Catholic parish. The rules in TEC are pretty much the same as in the Catholic Church (except that risen bread and pita bread are occasionally used, but it must be exclusively wheat). We ordered the wafers from exactly the same sources as Catholic parishes do.

In all that time, the issue of low-gluten wafers never once came-up. In fact, I was only vaguely aware of their existence until I became a Catholic. I am now an EFM in a large Catholic parish that goes to extraordinary lengths to avoid cross-contamination–including requiring that the EFM who distributes the low-gluten hosts receive on the tongue, so that he does not touch any of the regular hosts while receiving.

I do not doubt what some here have said about their sensitivity to gluten. I just wonder why this never was a problem in TEC.

 

[epan]

I think what this boils down to is doubt. Hosts made from 100% rice or 100% barley might be consecrable, but we don’t know for sure, because God has not revealed to us a Eucharist of anything but wheat.

It’s very, very simple. It’s not nitpicking, it is obedience. Jesus took wheat bread. Jesus took grape wine. The Jews always used wheat bread and they always used grape wine for their Passover. God never told them “If you’re out of wheat, you can use rice. If booze makes you crazy, you can use OJ. No problem, dudes.” God has not revealed anything to us but wheat bread and grape wine. Obedient to God, His Church uses wheat bread and grape wine in fidelity to Jesus’s actions.

If the Apostles had determined that rice cakes could be used (did they even have such a thing at that time?) then today we would have an option for validity. If it was revealed to the Church, an ecumenical council could have allowed rice as an option. But somewhere in Church history (too lazy to look it up) an ecumenical council infallibly declared that wheat was the only material for certain validity. End of story. The doctrine of the Eucharist is defined and set in stone, there can be no wiggle room anymore.

Ecumenical councils are held to refute heresies and settle doubts. There should be no doubt or uncertainty when it comes to Church doctrine. Sure, sometimes in her wisdom, the Church allows for uncertainty, preferring to leave things undefined: at her Assumption, did Our Lady die first, or was she assumed into heaven alive? The West made no determination on that. It’s up for debate by the faithful, whatever we want to believe is fine. Are we free to doubt that rice is valid matter? Yes, but we’re not free to believe that it is! We are following in Jesus’s footsteps. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Without Him there is no redemption, no eternal life. Would you rather follow him, or follow yourself?

P.S. I just spent some minutes trying to find an ecumenical council that defined valid matter for the Eucharist, but I was not successful. Am I right that it happened this way?

Barley contains gluten, btw. So does rye.

 

[englishredrose]

Actually after I had been ill with septicemia, yeh the priest came every week and gave me home communion until I started back at church,But I hadn’t the strength to walk down the isle and receive. Or I had but just took too much for me. Having discussed it with the priest he was happy for me to wait until after the service and gave me communion then since I had been in the whole service. But I found that a little bit of a ‘public’ ordeal in a way.

So in the end he did convince me, which didn’t take a lot of doing at all , but basically said it was okay to be present and that in itself is receiving - he didn’t say it like that and can’t remember his precise words but I think he meant that. Okay I am Anglican and not Catholic. But being present is enough and the Lord knowing the situation… I could have got down the isle and received but. I could have waited till afterwards. I didn’t make the priest come up to me in the organ loft as am in the choir. I happily accepted that being present was enough. And in time I got my strength up enough to walk down the isle. Though even now, four years on there are memory moments that I wonder but get on with it because I tell me its only panic now if I feel bit wobbly etc.

But as pointed out by other posters the girl does have a choice and it is upto the girl to learn it isn’t about taste. She isn’t missing out of anything at all - or she may be through choice but nothing the Church aint doing to include her as the Church is doing everything to include her and others like her. Its her own choice that she has refused and really as previously stated it shouldn’t have got to the media because it a matter really between priest and girl who can work it out between them.

 

[curlycool89]

You bring up some good points. Can someone give me a scriptural reference to the requirement for wheat?

It’s part of Sacred Tradition. It’s always been understood that you need to have wheaten bread.

The Catholic Church does not believe in sola scriptura.

 

[Jimmygill88]

To me, it honestly just seems Pharisee-like. Jesus did not specify the exact ingredients of the bread or wine, and I can just see Him shaking his head at all this arguing over whether gluten MUST or may not be a part of the Host if it might make someone ill. Even if all parishes DID offer the cup at all masses, perhaps those with celiac disease would also like to partake of the Lord’s body–would He truly forbid them to do so? Would He say “Let the little children come unto me, and forbid them not…unless they are wheat intolerant”?

Just from curiosity as a new Catholic I am wondering where the tradition came from that either the Precious Blood or the Body of the lord is sufficient–that both do not need to be received, except by the priest–and why only by him?

The Host and Wine when consecrated both become fully Body,Blood,Soul and Divinity of Christ. So by partaking of either you recieve both. I am not sure where the sense of entitlement that people seem to have nowadays comes from. If you have an allergy to communion wafers then you can’t recieve communion in that way. There are no special dispensations. This is either accepted or not but it is the teaching of the church based on Jewish Passover tradition, scriptural sources and evolution of church tradition.

 

[englishredrose]

:hammering: aren’t we hammering home this thread and isn’t it time someone came along and close it please because the original post has more than been answered and yeh could a forum mod close it please before it gets too silly

 

[TheRealJuliane]

I was an Episcopalian for a long time, and served as a sacristan off-and-on for 25 years or so, including, for a time, in a diocesan cathedral. I was also the vestry member who ordered the communion hosts and the wine in an Anglo-Catholic parish. The rules in TEC are pretty much the same as in the Catholic Church (except that risen bread and pita bread are occasionally used, but it must be exclusively wheat). We ordered the wafers from exactly the same sources as Catholic parishes do.

In all that time, the issue of low-gluten wafers never once came-up. In fact, I was only vaguely aware of their existence until I became a Catholic. I am now an EFM in a large Catholic parish that goes to extraordinary lengths to avoid cross-contamination–including requiring that the EFM who distributes the low-gluten hosts receive on the tongue, so that he does not touch any of the regular hosts while receiving.

I do not doubt what some here have said about their sensitivity to gluten. I just wonder why this never was a problem in TEC.

The hosts haven’t been around all that long. They weren’t available for the first few years that my son was GF. I can’t remember the exact time line, but maybe 4 years in…so 2004 or 1005? The Benedictine Sisters may have it on their website. Before then, a lot of celiacs would receive in spite of the damage they were certainly doing to their bodies.

That’s pretty cool - that the EM who ministers to the gluten-free folks takes COTT so as not to contaminate the low-gluten hosts. The only way I’ve heard of it being done is that each person has their own pyx which the minister hands to the GF person, who opens it and takes out the host. But your way is better, IMO. So that EM doesn’t minister to the rest of the congregation until after all the GF people have received?

 

[EvelynEVF]

The only way I’ve heard of it being done is that each person has their own pyx which the minister hands to the GF person, who opens it and takes out the host.

That sounds an awful lot like self-communication, which I would not expect to be permitted. The designated keeper of the special pyx in my parish wipes his fingers, opens the pyx, and gives the host to the gf people. It does take an extra couple of moments.

 

[TheRealJuliane]

That sounds an awful lot like self-communication, which I would not expect to be permitted. The designated keeper of the special pyx in my parish wipes his fingers, opens the pyx, and gives the host to the gf people. It does take an extra couple of moments.

I know, it does. Since my sons haven’t been interested in going to the trouble of arranging for the consecration of the VLG (very low gluten) host, I’ve never seriously inquired about it. It’s just what I’ve heard through the grapevine.

I wouldn’t want to go back to being their minister…and in the parish we prefer to attend, it wouldn’t be allowed anyway.

 

[pigpen]

I cannot consume gluten. I was sad when I had to forego the Body of Christ. Yes, I know I can receive Christ fully in the Precious Blood. However, it is still a loss to come to terms with. When the priest elevates the host and says “this is my body”, I still feel I need to come to terms with it (the host) as something I am unable to receive. If it is difficult for me, I am sure it is more difficult for a child, and I am saddened to see this child characterized as a “spoiled child”. It seems very uncharitable, and honestly, it surprises me to see this lack of charity on a Catholic site.

There are still many parishes where Communion is not offered in both species. Therefore, I am not always able to receive. I travel a bit, and I never know if the parish I attend will offer in both species. I also don’t wish to show up at a strange parish and ask for special treatment, like being served an alternative host.

The number of people who are unable to consume wheat is growing. Look in your grocery store and see how many GF products are now being sold. Some posters here are tsk tsking over all this fuss, yet it could happen to anyone, to suddenly stop tolerating gluten, and that’s when folks will understand how much of a hardship it can be. I moved to a new parish which is generously offering the low gluten alternative host because they have received so many requests. What a kindness!

 

[Rkdajr]

I couldn’t find an answer to this and I apologize if it’s been asked before - but what if someone is allergic to (even low-gluten) bread *and * the grape of the wine?

 

[curlycool89]

I couldn’t find an answer to this and I apologize if it’s been asked before - but what if someone is allergic to (even low-gluten) bread *and * the grape of the wine?

I’m assuming you mean gluten and alcohol.

I believe someone may be able to receive mustum (which is naturally fermented grape, but there’s very little alcohol in it, just enough for it to be valid matter).

If someone is not able to receive that, then they will have to receive communion spiritually. There’s nothing else we can do, nothing else is valid matter.

 

[Rkdajr]

I’m assuming you mean gluten and alcohol.

I believe someone may be able to receive mustum (which is naturally fermented grape, but there’s very little alcohol in it, just enough for it to be valid matter).

If someone is not able to receive that, then they will have to receive communion spiritually. There’s nothing else we can do, nothing else is valid matter.

Thank you, I meant an allergy to grapes but you answered my question anyway. Does that mean the person should stay in their pew or can they go in line and show a gesture without receiving communion or a blessing (like people who aren’t disposed to receive crossing their arms) to feel more like they received it spiritually?

 

[maryjk]

Thank you, I meant an allergy to grapes but you answered my question anyway. Does that mean the person should stay in their pew or can they go in line and show a gesture without receiving communion or a blessing (like people who aren’t disposed to receive crossing their arms) to feel more like they received it spiritually?

Does this effect you personally? Or someone you know?

 

[Rkdajr]

Does this effect you personally? Or someone you know?

No, I’m just curious =]

 

[TheRealJuliane]

I cannot consume gluten. I was sad when I had to forego the Body of Christ. Yes, I know I can receive Christ fully in the Precious Blood. However, it is still a loss to come to terms with. When the priest elevates the host and says “this is my body”, I still feel I need to come to terms with it (the host) as something I am unable to receive. If it is difficult for me, I am sure it is more difficult for a child, and I am saddened to see this child characterized as a “spoiled child”. It seems very uncharitable, and honestly, it surprises me to see this lack of charity on a Catholic site.

There are still many parishes where Communion is not offered in both species. Therefore, I am not always able to receive. I travel a bit, and I never know if the parish I attend will offer in both species. I also don’t wish to show up at a strange parish and ask for special treatment, like being served an alternative host.

The number of people who are unable to consume wheat is growing. Look in your grocery store and see how many GF products are now being sold. Some posters here are tsk tsking over all this fuss, yet it could happen to anyone, to suddenly stop tolerating gluten, and that’s when folks will understand how much of a hardship it can be. I moved to a new parish which is generously offering the low gluten alternative host because they have received so many requests. What a kindness!

I am glad that you are now able to receive the low gluten host. I take it that you would not have asked to receive unless others were also in need?

The reason we are calling this little girl “spoiled” is that the article states that she pronounced the taste of the low-gluten host “disgusting.” Did you read that part of the article? She is not “banned” from receiving communion, she can receive via the cup whenever it is available, and the low-gluten host has been declared valid for consecration. I never thought to consider whether or not the host that I consume, which has become Christ’s body, is “tasty” in any way. But the low gluten host is not “disgusting.”

We are charitable on this forum, but viewing this article as being an attack on the Church is not uncharitable.

 

[TheRealJuliane]

I couldn’t find an answer to this and I apologize if it’s been asked before - but what if someone is allergic to (even low-gluten) bread *and * the grape of the wine?

The VERY low-gluten host has been tested to under the level that even sensitive gluten-intolerant people will react to. It does not cause antibody levels to rise. If the antibodies aren’t activated, there will be no damage to the small intestine and thus, no symptoms. So, it is safe for most people who cannot consume gluten.

The person who is not receiving communion, for ANY reason, should stay in the pew and pray. Blessings during communion are not supposed to be done.

 

[jizolt]

I live in Columbus, OH where this story originated. My understanding is that the Parish this young girl belonged to had purchased hosts from a company that makes them for Protestant faiths (as they were truly gluten-free). This was completely a mistake on the part of the Parish Priest (his heart was in the right place… but we all know what is “paved with good intentions”).

What makes this situation worse is that this article appeared in the “Faith & Values” section of the Columbus Dispatch, written by someone who should be knowledgeable of faith matters. I sent the journalist an email and informed her that she was wrong to title the article “Church Bans Gluten-Free Host” as the Church has never allowed gluten-free hosts, so they couldn’t have banned something that was never allowed in the first place. I also told her the young girl was no “less Catholic” for only taking the wine and explained why. I also provided her with a citation from the GIRM documenting the ingredients to be used to make the host.

As a journalist, she should have been knowledgeable enough of the process to do 5 minutes worth of research before deciding to write the article. It would have saved her a lot of time as she would have realized this article was not even news-worthy, unless she was attempting to create more division between Protestants and Catholics in the community by writing an article that makes the Church look like the bad guy.

 

[Triciacat]

It blows my mind that this made it into the newspaper.

She is deprived of nothing. Furthermore, she can receive the host if she wants, but doesn’t like the taste. How… monstrously silly.

What a waste of bandwidth on their part.

This is NOT monstrously silly. For anyone with celiac disease, they can sense even minute amounts of gluten in their food and do find the taste of it disgusting to them, for good reason.