Remember a wheat allergy First Communion story?

[vancampwi]

This weekend I ended up talking about religion to a guy who is a cradle Catholic but now is very against organized religion in general and really has problems with the Catholic church. The conversation started with the priest scandal. After exhausting many topics (and he said I was the first person he met who has had some knowledge to answer his troubles with the church), he brought up something I hadn’t heard about. Maybe it happened right after having a baby or during a busy time while I was not up on current events. Anyway, he said that he read a story that a girl had a wheat allergy and was not allowed to receive First Communion. He didn’t seem to know all the facts and could not answer all my questions about the situation. I was hoping that this was news at one time and that people here will know about it and be able to give me more answers.

Here is what he could tell me: the girl had a wheat allergy, she went through all the preparations for Holy Communion, and was at the ceremony, but was told that she ‘did not’ receive First Communion.
He could not tell me whether or not she would be able to have a low wheat content host (not something I know much about - just think I have heard of it). He could not say whether she was allowed to receive the Precious Blood. Seems to me like she could just do that.

The guy I was talking to wanted the church to just say - ok, you have received First Communion. He thought she should just walk up there and want to receive and that should be the same as actually consuming the Body of Christ. So I was able to talk about that part of the issue for awhile. I thought it was funny when he was complaining that she was told she did not receive First Communion. I asked if she consumed it or not - he said no. I just could not see how he wanted them to say that she ate it when she didn’t…

But I could not give him answers about what the diocese did since I was not sure of all the issues surrounding the case.

I do not see this guy very much. He told me that our conversation will have no affect on how he feels about religion, but he also said numerous times that no one has been able to give him the answers that I could. I am praying for him. I was hoping that someone could give me more details about this case and that I could email him. I would like to keep the conversation going with him.

 

[Almeria]

Vancampwi, there’s actually a bunch of threads on this case. Here’s one of them:

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=12185

In a nutshell, the girl is allergic to wheat, and her parish priest refused (rightly) to use the rice wafer her mom had found. A priest in a nearby parish offered to use the rice wafer, and “gave” the girl her First Communion with that. A rice wafer is not valid species–to be consecrated, the host must have at least a small amount of wheat. Therefore, the First Communion was not “taken away” from the child; it was never a valid consecration in the first place. Her allergy is reportedly bad enough where she can’t have the low-gluten host. Normally in such cases the Precious Blood is received. The child’s mother, however, feels that even a small sip of alcohol is bad for a child, and will not permit her child to receive the Blood.

 

[vancampwi]

Thank you so much Almeria. This is exactly what I wanted. I know there is so much information on these forums, but I never seem to be able to find exactly what I want when I search for things.