Must altar bread be made of wheat only?

[GoodSamaritan]

The attached is a story about an 8 year old girl who is deathly allergic to gluten, which is in communion wafers, whose first holy communion was invalidated because the wafer she took was not of wheat. Is this reasonable? Is this really Canon Law? Is there really no way to except this?

cbsnews.com/stories/2004/08/18/national/main636772.shtml

GS

 

[Fr.Vincent_Serpa]

Dear Good,

CBS regularly changes the stories on its news website and the story you mention is no longer displayed there. Regardless of the gist of the news story, the Church cannot change what Jesus established. It can no more replace wheat bread for the Eucharist than it can replace grape wine.
This isn’t canon law, it’s Sacred Scripture! And yes it IS reasonable because God knows what He is doing.

There are altar breads made with a minimum of gluten and some people with Celiac disease can tolerate them. Those who cannot, can still receive the Body and Blood of the Lord in the Eucharist by receiving from the chalice.

Fr. Vincent Serpa, O.P.